http://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2012-12-28T09:06:00ZCatch up on the best of what <em>InformationWeek</em> had to offer this year, from profiles of top CIOs to investigations of tech security gone wrong.http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/best-of-informationweek-2012-12-must-rea/240145150?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --><div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"><a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/mobility/smart-phones/10-best-android-apps-of-2012/240144458"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/928/01_Android_apps_full.jpg" alt=" 10 Best Android Apps Of 2012" title="10 Best Android Apps Of 2012" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">10 Best Android Apps Of 2012</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</span></div><!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->At this time of year, some sites run lists of their most popular stories from the past 12 months. We decided to go a different route. Let us remember, Britney Spears was most popular at one time. So were plaid pants, mullets and wine-in-a-box. Most popular isn't always what it's cracked up to be. <P> Also, you can only read so many Apple stories in one day. <P> So here are 12 of the most intriguing stories and columns from <em>InformationWeek</em> in 2012. From an in-depth look at the IT transformation at General Motors to a sobering look at a financial industry company's IT meltdown, it was quite a year. Dig in. And please share your comments below on which articles you liked -- or did not. <P> <strong>1. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/general-motors-will-slash-outsourcing-in/240002892">General Motors Will Slash Outsourcing In IT Overhaul</a></strong> <P> GM's new CIO Randy Mott plans to bring nearly all IT work in-house as one piece of a sweeping IT overhaul. It's a high-risk strategy that's similar to what Mott drove at Hewlett-Packard. <P> <strong>2. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/security/attacks/exclusive-anatomy-of-a-brokerage-it-melt/240008569">Exclusive: Anatomy Of A Brokerage IT Meltdown</a></strong> <P> Regulators last year issued the SEC's first-ever privacy fine against broker-dealer GunnAllen for failing to protect customer data. But former IT staffers say regulators didn't seem to know half of this cautionary tale of outsourcing and oversight gone wrong. <P> <strong>3.<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applications/hana-and-exalytics-saps-hype-versus-orac/232901262">Hana And Exalytics: SAP's Hype Versus Oracle's FUD</a></strong> <P> Getting to the facts in the war of words surrounding SAP's Hana and Oracle's Exalytics platforms. <P> <strong>4. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/news/global-cio/interviews/why-sears-is-going-allin-on-hadoop/240009717">Why Sears Is Going All-In On Hadoop</a></strong> <P> Sears pushes the cutting edge with some big data techniques, while trying to sell its big data services. Can emerging tech drive change in old-school companies? <P> <strong>5. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/union-pacific-delivers-internet-of-thing/240004930">Union Pacific Delivers Internet Of Things Reality Check</a></strong> <P> U.S.'s largest railroad uses sensors and analytics to prevent derailments, but it also shows where the next wave of innovation is needed. <P> <strong>6. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/government/enterprise-applications/fbis-sentinel-project-5-lessons-learned/240004888">FBI's Sentinel Project: 5 Lessons Learned</a></strong> <P> Agency used agile development and private sector know-how to finish its long-delayed digital case management system. <P> <strong>7. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/apple-macintosh/apple-after-jobs-cooks-real-challenge/240008340">Apple After Jobs: Cook's Real Challenge</a></strong> <P> A year after the death of its charismatic leader, Apple is thriving. But CEO Tim Cook's success may depend on content services -- not finding another iPad. <P> <strong>8. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/skills-shortage-quit-whining/232601751">Skills Shortage? Quit Whining</a></strong> <P> If "people are our most important resource," why do most employers expect this precious asset to show up gift wrapped? <P> <strong>9. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/windows/operating-systems/windows-8-fizzling-time-for-windows-clas/240142618">Windows 8 Fizzling, Time For Windows Classic?</a></strong> <P> If Windows 8 sales don't improve soon, will Microsoft have to pull a Coke and cut its losses on its radically reengineered OS? <P> <strong>10. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure/ny-times-data-center-indictment-misses-b/240007880">N.Y. Times Data Center Indictment Misses Big Picture</a></strong> <P> A New York Times examination of increasing data center use and its environmental impact focuses on aging enterprise data centers. A more important issue: How much environmental benefit can we reap from today's modern cloud data centers? <P> <strong>11. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/san-francisco-giants-bill-schlough-infor/240144065">San Francisco Giants' Bill Schlough: InformationWeek IT Chief Of The Year</a></strong> <P> The Giants' CIO and his team are innovating in areas such as analytics-based scouting and in-stadium wireless, keeping the World Series champions ahead of the game. <P> <strong>12. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/cios-as-rainmakers-the-new-meme-deconstr/240143880">CIOs As Rainmakers: The New Meme, Deconstructed</a></strong> <P> When your CEO or CFO asks you to be a rainmaker, it's a call for help. Wrap it all in context and respond in a holistic way.2012-09-21T09:04:00ZMarc Benioff wants marketing to be Salesforce's next $1 billion business. To get there, he's jumping right into the growing tension between IT and marketing execs.http://www.informationweek.com/news/240007748?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsMarc Benioff, the tech industry's most talented tent revival preacher, has focused his gospel for a new group: marketing executives. The CIO vs. CMO discussion has been increasing and Benioff, like all master salesmen, has been listening. <P> As I heard repeatedly at our recent <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/1343"><em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference</a>, a power struggle looms between IT and marketing organizations. As businesses seek new ways to interact with customers via social channels and demand decision-making information faster, cloud services also give marketing execs a way around IT. At the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applications/salesforcecom-unifies-extends-cloud-port/240007580">Dreamforce conference</a> in San Francisco this week, Benioff told the faithful that he is concentrating on the marketing executives. <P> And when Benioff concentrates on CMOs, you'd better pay attention. <P> Benioff's Dreamforce showmanship, combined with an ability to speak language that riles up his believers, keeps improving year after year. Outfitted in a suit and colorful sneakers that caused a Twitter flutter, Benioff led a three-hour keynote Wednesday that used the word "inspirational" repeatedly. <P> <center><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/1344/Benioff_Dreamforce_lores_560.jpg" width="560" height="373" alt="Marc Benioff" hspace="0" vspace="0" border="0" style="margin-bottom:7px;" /><br /></center></p> <P> In an IBM 2012 study, CEOs rated social as the No. 2 way to reach customers, he told the crowd, early on. (Sales teams ranked No. 1.) <P> "That for me was when a light came on," Benioff said. "We believe so strongly that Salesforce's core mission is to help you, our customers, to connect with your customers in a whole new way." <P> By 2017, CMOs will spend more on tech than CIOs, Benioff added, citing a Gartner study. Social represents the biggest change to marketing in 60 years, he said. He laid out these tenets before launching into his product announcements, which target the customer's marketing needs. <P> Not for the first time, Benioff expressed his belief that marketing will be Salesforce's next $1 billion business. Among other developments, his team showed off Marketing Cloud services, the fruit of the company's Radian6 and Buddy Media buys, and Chatter for Communities and for Services, designed to <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_private_platforms/chatter-in-the-air-everywhere/240007663">extend Salesforce's collaboration tools</a> to partners and customers. His team also rolled out Chatterbox, the long rumored answer to Dropbox, and Work.com, an <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applications/salesforcecom-goes-to-workcom/240007673">employee goal-setting, feedback, and performance review system</a>. The presentation focused on customer problems, not software features. <P> <strong>Why Marketing</strong> <P> At a press and analyst Q&A later on Wednesday, Benioff is pressed on the genesis of his marketing ambitions, and whether they are realistic. He cited a trip to visit a casino customer in Las Vegas. "For the first time when I showed up for the meeting, the CMO is in the room," Benioff says. "They spend more than $1 billion in marketing. It dwarfs their IT spend. That's true for most organizations." Harkening back to the Gartner study that CMOs will outspend CIOs by 2017, Benioff went further. "I think maybe Gartner is underestimating what's happening," he said, suggesting it may flip faster than 2017. <P> That line of thinking is core to his plans for growing Salesforce. <P> "We're telling stories," Benioff said. "We're trying to talk to customers in their own language. That is very much a transformation that is paramount for us." <P> In fact, Benioff noted, his top 500 managers have each been assigned to work with five customers, to get more examples like General Electric, where his company's technology powers a new social effort called GE Share. <P> And, as he pledged to stand by these marketing execs as they wander into the promised land of happier customers and happier employees actually collaborating better, he told some amusing stories.<!-- Image Aligning right --> <!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/galleries/social_networking_consumer/240004144"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/840/vs_full.png" alt="Oracle vs. Salesforce: Social Acquisition Face-off" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Oracle vs. Salesforce: Social Acquisition Face-off</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</span> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <!-- / Image Aligning right --> In his keynote, Benioff brought up George Zimmer, CEO of Men's Wearhouse, who says Saleforce.com tools are helping his company find out what millennials like and don't like about his stores, which succeeded originally with baby boomers. <P> "You're gonna like the way Salesforce works, I guarantee it," Zimmer quipped. <P> Benioff's special conference guests during the week, from Richard Branson to Tony Robbins, pack plenty of star power. But the subtext of the week is definitely IT's star: Is it rising or falling? <P> <strong>CMO Power: Fact Vs. Fiction</strong> <P> Is the CMO truly becoming the No. 2 officer in the company, right behind the CEO, as Benioff proclaims? <P> <em>InformationWeek</em> columnist Larry Tieman stirred debate in a column earlier this year that outlined why he believes <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/why-cmos-and-cfos-will-rule-above-cios/240003340">CMOs and CFOs will rule above CIOs</a>. Disruptive market forces are diminishing the business need for a CIO, and increasing marketing's importance and ability to go around IT, he said. "Those who argue that there will always be a need for a CIO don't understand how many CEOs are asking why this position needs to be part of the executive team," Tieman wrote. <P> Of course, the smartest CIOs are already plugged into the need to be business partners of a new kind. Among our recent <em>InformationWeek 500</em> award winners, just look at the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/vail-resorts-app-links-the-mountains-to/240006824">innovative social media work being done by Robert Urwiler, Vail Resorts' CIO</a> and by Filippo Passerini, Procter & Gamble's business services group president and CIO. Passerini's team is presenting real-time data in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/pgs-cio-details-business-savvy-predictiv/240007069">decision cockpits to speed business decisions</a>. <P> As for the Gartner CMO data that Benioff keeps touting, look closely--many people fail to supply the context, says analyst Frank Scavo, president of Computer Economics, who was on hand at Dreamforce to hear Benioff's plans. His research firm focuses on metrics for IT management. <P> "I am skeptical about this prediction," Scavo said. First, Gartner provides, as evidence, that the typical CMO budget is 10% of revenue, whereas the typical IT budget is 3.6% of revenue, he said, adding that both sets of numbers vary widely by industry. But, 100% of the IT budget is for IT products, services, and salaries, whereas only a fraction of the CMO budget is for IT, he said. <P> "What we have here is mostly a matter of definitions. If you count everything that the CMO does that somehow involves a computer, perhaps you could get close to the CIO's budget. But if you really compare apples to apples, I doubt that the CMO budget for technology would come anywhere close the CIO's budget for IT throughout the organization," Scavo said. <P> However, the general trend Benioff is pointing out is correct, Scavo said. Many products, such as automobiles and medical devices, now have huge amounts of embedded IT. So in some companies, you could argue that the product development organization spends more on IT than the CIO does. This shows how pervasive IT has become and why CIOs must continue to broaden their business focus, he said. <P> Step back and look at what Tieman and Scavo are saying. Now, consider whether your businesses are buying into Benioff's marketing-focused vision. One point of interest: Look at his collection plate. <P> Salesforce will be the first $3 billion enterprise cloud company, Benioff said, and Salesforce.com will also soon hit its first one billion transaction day. <P> Benioff sells his vision much more passionately than other tech CEOs and he speaks in a language your business colleagues understand. Benioff hasn't said CIOs are not in the room anymore. But know this: he will sell to your company, whether you're in the room or not. He will sell to the disciples who are buying. It's up to IT leaders to decide whether to keep feeding the CIO/CMO tension, or run smarter and faster alongside business partners.2012-09-11T11:55:00ZIBM's Watson and the Google car represent just two examples of how the pace of technology change moves faster than we can keep up right now, said MIT's Erik Brynjolfsson. What will that pace mean to IT as a career?http://www.informationweek.com/news/240007116?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsEight years ago, MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson thought the idea of a bakery truck driver's job being replaced by a computer sounded far-fetched. This year, he rode in the Google car--no human required. <P> The pace of technology is changing so rapidly that our skills, organizations, and schools aren't keeping up, he told the audience at the <em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference Monday. Brynjolfsson, author of <em>Race Against The Machine</em>, said that's causing what he calls the great paradox of our generation. While productivity continues to head north and wealth creation has never been greater than in the past decade, the average worker is worse off, median family income has fallen, and fewer people are working, he said. "There's no economic law that everyone is going to share equally in the benefits," he said. <P> As the top U.S. earners continue to earn more, other people are left behind as their incomes and jobs disappear, he said. Brace yourself, he said, because the next 10 years will be even more disruptive. <P> <strong>[ Don't forget to add serendipity to your agenda. See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/informationweek-500-to-do-list/240006992?itc=edit_in_body_cross">InformationWeek 500 To-Do List</a>. ]</strong> <P> Consider these five takeaways about the pace of technology change now and what it will mean to you and your organization. <P> <strong>1. It's Not Just Low-Level Jobs Vanishing</strong> <P> Computers now can do many tasks that people used to do--not only in IT but also in sales, logistics, and analytics, noted Brynjolfsson. That's one reason not everyone will share in the economic gains of the next decade. "It's entirely possible you can make the pie much bigger and not have everyone benefit," he said. <P> <strong>2. Success Scales Differently Now</strong> <P> In the last decade, 64% of the U.S. income gains were earned by the top 1% of the people, he said. Whereas in the decades after World War II, incomes and jobs were rising steadily from top to bottom of the spectrum, now the top 1% is using technology to succeed on a scale that was not possible before, he said. <P> <strong>3. Look For Three Sets Of Winners And Losers</strong> <P> Given the pace of technology change that shows no sign of stopping, you can expect three sets of winners and losers, Brynjolfsson said. First, high-skilled and low-skilled workers will find themselves in very different places. Second, wealth creation becomes a battle of superstars versus everyone else, he said. Music superstars multiply their influence and earnings using digital technologies; software superstars are writing algorithms that replace professionals like tax preparers. Finally, look closely at where corporate profits are being directed, he said. Capital vs. labor. Corporate profits are at an all time high, but that money is being directed to capital, not laborers. <P> <strong>4. The Next 10 Years Will Be More Disruptive</strong> <P> What new jobs might be replaced by technology, just as manufacturing jobs have been replaced by robots? Perhaps more jobs than you think, Brynjolfsson said. Consider IBM's Watson technology. IBM didn't design Watson just to win <em>Jeopardy</em>, of course. IBM is developing <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/hardware/supercomputers/ibm-plans-pint-sized-watson/240006666">different versions of Watson</a> for targeted industries. The Watson technology is now getting jobs on Wall Street, working in call centers, and answering prescription questions, Brynjolfsson said. <P> So, as <em>InformationWeek</em> editor Art Wittmann noted in a Twitter post, you may already be taking investment advice from Watson. <P> <strong>5. Skills, Organizations, And Schools Don't Change As Fast As Computers</strong> <P> IT leaders looking for specific technology skills understand how quickly hiring needs can change, leading to situations like the current demand for <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/big-data/news/big-data-analytics/240006580/data-scientists-meet-big-datas-top-guns">data scientists</a> to work on big data projects. Digital technologies will continue to accelerate, Brynjolfsson said, creating a bigger mismatch of needs and skills. "Business as usual won't solve this problem," he said. <P> Seth Ravin, CEO of Rimini Street, noted that the pace of change has already changed how he is hiring. "I am hiring problem solvers, not for skills," Ravin said. "It's a very different skill set." <P> That's one bright side in an otherwise unsettling picture that Brynjolfsson paints for IT leaders and IT careers, not to mention the larger U.S. employment outlook. In the age of Google, people who can ask the right questions become more valuable than people who are a font of knowledge. "Being creative, that's a uniquely human skill," Brynjolfsson said. <P> A crucial question is whether IT leaders will change their hiring habits in light of the new pace of technology change. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/global-cio/interviews/randy-motts-journey-to-general-motors/240002893">General Motors CIO Randy Mott</a>, who spoke later in the day at the conference, said that he still has to convince some people to hire new college grads, who he has always favored in his IT organizations for their energy and their ability to tackle problems in new ways. <P> But he said, too often the hiring spec is a seven-year person with seven specific skills. "Never mind that there's four of them on the planet," Mott said. You could almost hear the collective wince in the audience as that statement rang true with many IT leaders who follow a hiring process that has become incredibly targeted.2012-07-20T12:37:00ZThe mommy judges couldn't wait to weigh in on Marissa Mayer. But in their quest for answers, the judges miss the truth.http://www.informationweek.com/news/240004099?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsI have been rooting for a strong, smart woman to tell off the mommy judges. It won't be Marissa Mayer. <P> If she asked me, I would tell her not to, because ignorant people would call her ungracious. But more important, as the new CEO of Yahoo, and as a soon-to-be mom, she has more important things to worry about. <P> As soon as news broke that Mayer is pregnant, the mommy judging began. The grabby headlines, opinions disguised as reporting, and reader comments flew. Some people questioned the length of Mayer's maternity leave, which she has said she plans (by her own choice) to be a few weeks. Some writers referenced the much-discussed article from <em>The Atlantic</em>, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," which posed the question of when, ideally, a woman should have a baby. <P> Some bloggers asked: Is this the right time for Mayer to have a baby? Could she balance CEO-dom and motherhood? Recruiters, board members, and parenting advice authors offered their own opinions. My personal Facebook feed lit up. My professional community of technology journalists suddenly dipped its toes into parenting analysis. <P> Here's the truth: There's no right answer to any of these questions--regardless of whether you're a doctor, lawyer, cook, journalist, small-business owner, or newly minted technology company CEO. <P> There's no right-length maternity leave. There's no right time to have a baby. There's no right answer to who should care for your child while you work. There's no right answer to whether mothers should work outside of the home. There's no definition of "have it all." <P> There is only what works for you, and your baby. That also means what works at the time, to the best of your ability, with whatever support you have or don't have. In my wide circle of friends and colleagues who have had babies, I can't think of two who followed the exact same formula. <P> This mommy judging--of Mayer and everyone else--is not about women trying to help other women or children or humankind. This is about women trying to validate their own choices. <P> This is about women who think motherhood is some kind of class rank exercise, or contest, or standardized test. <P> Note to the mommy judges: There are many, many kinds of accomplished women. <P> I am not my grandmother, who came to the U.S. from Ireland at 17 by herself as a domestic and later raised four boys while running a rooming house. That is accomplishment of one kind. I am not Marissa Mayer, who won Silicon Valley's respect and became a CEO before she was 40. That is accomplishment of another kind. <P> I work hard to live up to my standards for work and motherhood. My standards may make no sense for anyone but me. That's fine. <P> I have met mommy judges since before my son was born. They had opinions on just about everything. Later, I met mothers at the park who told me they wouldn't dream of giving their children any foods with artificial colors. I smiled politely in the moment--and then watched my toddler enjoy the occasional Tootsie Pop. <P> <!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <!-- GLOBAL CIO GLOBE --> <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> <span style="font-size:.9em; font-weight:bold;">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.</span> </div> </div> <!-- /GLOBAL CIO GLOBE --> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <P> Mayer will meet plenty of mommy judges, like it or not, on websites, in emails, in magazines, and in person. Unlike Mayer, I never had to see bloggers debate my choices. I never had to read tweets about them. <P> All of this mommy judging, all of this "can we have it all?" comparing, makes no sense. It's not about societal change or breaking ceilings. <P> I make my choices. You make yours. Let Mayer make hers. Let her change her mind as she goes along, too--because as any parent knows, you can plan in one hand and have baby barf in the other in about 10 seconds flat. <P> No one needs to "beat" anyone else. This isn't a mother competition. There's no mother valedictorian. At the end of the day there is, if you're lucky, a sweet child who appreciates something small that you did today. <P> And in Mayer's case, if her hard work succeeds, there will also be a child who one day understands that she turned around <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/240004088">a deeply troubled company</a>. Let's let her get to it.2012-06-20T13:40:00ZThink big data analysis is making your professional expertise less valuable? In some ways, you're right, MIT's Andrew McAfee said Wednesday at the Enterprise 2.0 conference.http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/240002413?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors"The world is one big data problem." <P> Andrew McAfee, principal research scientist at MIT and author of <em>Race Against the Machine</em>, said that's a sentiment he keeps hearing in recent meetings in Silicon Valley. <P> "There's a bit of arrogance in that, and a bit of truth as well," he told the <a href="http://www.e2conf.com/boston">Enterprise 2.0 Boston 2012</a> conference audience in a Wednesday morning keynote presentation. <P> Can you address any problem effectively once you have masses of data? Enterprise 2.0 and social technologies are feeding big data analysis, providing new and more personal data points. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/232900956">Embedded sensors in everything from athletic clothing to cars</a> feed big data pools and research that was not possible before, as consultant and <em>InformationWeek</em> guest columnist Vinnie Mirchandani recently detailed. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/240001922">Big data analysis based on Hadoop platform tools</a> is challenging traditional business intelligence wisdom, particularly in retail industries. <P> While enterprise use of big data analysis can solve tough business problems, some individuals may find big data analysis deeply unsettling to their own career prospects. <P> Here's the bad news, according to McAfee: Computers are getting smarter all the time. IBM's Watson computer proved it could beat the most talented humans at <em>Jeopardy</em> trivia questions, but that's really just the beginning, McAfee pointed out. He cited <a href="http://www.narrativescience">Narrative Science</a>, a company that generates news prose from a computer algorithm, in effect replacing reporters, to write basic news stories. Computers have also shown in research studies that they can beat pathologists at reading slides to detect signs of cancer, McAfee said. <P> <strong>[ See our special report: <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/e2-boston-2012">Enterprise 2.0 Boston 2012</a>.]</strong> <P> We were never all that good. <P> "We kind of come out on the losing end over and over again," McAfee said. Using big data techniques, algorithms can predict questions including how good this year's crop of Bordeaux wine will turn out and how the Supreme Court will decide pending cases, he noted. Big data analysis can outdo purchasing experts, who have spent years learning nuances of vendor strategies and contracts, he said. <P> In a group of 136 man-versus-machine studies that he examined, humans won in just eight cases. The kisser: This was before the era of big data, he said. The computers likely did not have enough data. <P> "I kind of see our robot overlords and computer overlords getting smarter and smarter," McAfee said. "Are we all thoroughly depressed about this?" he asked the audience, prompting wry laughs.However, he said, this does not mean we should fight this sort of change or smash machines in a Luddite-like response. Instead, he said, people need to race with the machines, even if they are playing new roles. <P> McAfee points to <a href="http://fold.it/portal">FoldIt</a>, an online effort that uses crowdsourced puzzles to help crack questions around scientific research involving protein folding. The research will be targeted at medical problems including HIV, Alzheimer's, and cancer research that depend on new knowledge about human proteins. It turns out that people are still better at solving protein-folding puzzles, he said. <P> One piece of good news: Your chances of surviving a round of layoffs go up as your use of social goes up, an MIT colleague's research concluded, McAfee said. <P> But for global footwear brand Nike, social and consumer technologies have also driven home some uncomfortable truths about old IT models and the value of IT staffers, Nike's Art King told the Enterprise 2.0 audience. Nike's app deployment strategy to its internal customers is changing from push to pull, said King, who is global infrastructure architect lead and a futurist for Nike (with the colorful sneakers to prove it). <P> This move to pull acknowledges three realities, he said. First, users want to pick apps now, not have apps pushed from IT. This means IT recommends apps, instead of choosing them. And at Nike, users often look for an answer to a problem on the wiki, instead of calling IT support. Or, users look to people they know who are regarded as experts. <P> "We've observed a tribal effect, where friends take care of friends," King said. This means IT has less value, he observed. <P> Examples like this show how IT can become disconnected from business customers, King said. "We need more right brain thinking in our organization," he said. <P> <i>New apps promise to inject social features across entire workflows, raising new problems for IT. In the new, all-digital <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/060412/?k=axxe&cid=article_axxt_os">Social Networking</a> issue of InformationWeek, find out how companies are making social networking part of the way their employees work. Also in this issue: How to better manage your video data. (Free with registration.)</i>2012-05-31T17:54:00ZMicrosoft made the Windows 8 Release Preview version available Thursday. If you just can't wait to install, please tell us about how it's going.http://www.informationweek.com/news/240001333?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageRight"> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/operatingsystems/232800052"><img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/galleries/automated/774/01_Windows8_first_slide_tn.jpg" alt="Windows 8 Vs. 10 Big OS Annoyances" title="Windows 8 Vs. 10 Big OS Annoyances" class="img175" /></a><br /> <div class="storyImageTitle">Windows 8 Vs. 10 Big OS Annoyances</div> <span class="inlinelargerView">(click image for larger view and for slideshow)</span></div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Microsoft Thursday released Windows 8 Release Preview, a more polished version of the blockbuster OS upgrade expected to ship in the fall. We got a look at the Windows 8 "consumer preview" version earlier this year: See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/operatingsystems/232601852">Windows 8 Beta: Visual Tour</a> for an in-depth guide to the look and feel of the new OS. <P> The next expected milestone for Windows 8 will be the release to manufacturing (RTM) date, which is targeted for the end of July, according to a <a href=" http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/31/delivering-the-windows-8-release-preview.aspx"> blog post by Microsoft's Windows chief, Steven Sinofsky</a>. <P> Between now and RTM, Microsoft will continue to refine the code, looking at issues including setup matters, compatibility glitches, and performance. It will also make some last tweaks to the touch-friendly Metro interface and feature set. <P> As predicted, Microsoft says Windows 8 and Windows RT will arrive for the crucial holiday retail season. The exact date for when the first Windows 8 machines will ship, Sinofsky notes, will be up to the hardware partners. <P> As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Paul McDougall reported recently, <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/windows8/240000780">Windows 8 will also support new tricks for using multiple monitors</a>. Microsoft wants you to be able to run full-screen Metro apps across multiple monitors. <P> "Few details have emerged about Windows 8 hardware, but it's expected that many vendors will produce systems that can be operated in tablet mode or as a laptop with support for multiple monitors," McDougall noted. "Users armed with such devices will be able to run multiple Metro apps across multiple screens, or run a Metro app on one screen while showing the classic Windows desktop on another." <P> Are you installing the Windows 8 Release Preview version soon? If so, we'd like to hear about how it goes. Tell us about the machine and what you see as you install, in the comments field below. We'll spotlight your comments in a follow-up story tomorrow, along with further coverage. <P> You can get up to speed with our <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/windows8/232700509">Windows 8 Super Guide</a>, which has all the news, analysis, and tips you need as you consider what Windows 8 will mean to your devices at home and <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/232602156">in the enterprise</a>. <P> If you're still debating whether to buy the latest Apple iPad or wait for Windows 8 tablets, we also have some good advice on the <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/232700179">iPad vs. Windows 8 tablets decision</a>. <P> Now please chime in on your Windows 8 Release Preview install experiences. <P>2011-12-21T08:00:00ZFrom Apotheker to Zuckerberg, tech chiefs had plenty of time on the hot seat this year. Take a look back at the notable product, strategy, and security fails of 2011.http://www.informationweek.com/news/232300687?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsAll of the tired mantras about failing (do it often but fast, it builds character) might work well on PowerPoint slides and in lectures to entrepreneurs, but companies and people don't set out to fail, and they don't brag about it when they do fail. <P> Chronicling the failures of companies is a special art that requires a cold heart and an assassin's dispassion. Or just a pundit's effluence. Somebody's got to be the bad guy, pointing out the foibles and follies of the IT industry, basking in all its ignominy. And it might as well be us. <P> An aside before we press on: Some readers might wonder why there are no Google technologies on this list. After all, Google killed more products this year (Wave, Buzz, Health, Labs, Gears--and don't get us started on Google Plus) than most companies launch in their lifetimes. But alas, <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Tom Claburn covered that ground in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/productivity_apps/232200208">Google's Graveyard: Dead Products Of 2011</a>. <P> <strong>HP And Leo Apotheker</strong> <P> Ever since Oracle and its attorneys forced Leo Apotheker into hiding a year ago rather than testify at the Oracle-SAP trial, the ex-SAP-turned-HP CEO has lived under a cloud of scrutiny and doubt. In his short 10 months at the helm of HP, he did very little to erase either. He did pump more money into the company's famous R&D machine, but he also managed to put the company's $41 billion PC business in play--maybe for sale, maybe as a spinoff, but certainly as something not entirely within HP. He doubled down on mobile and then pulled away the company's chips before playing its hand. He spent big money on a big acquisition (content management software vendor Autonomy) that might ultimately pay off, but many of the customers who depend on HP for the core of their data centers were left wondering whether they had been left behind as HP chased something more glittery. People close to the company say Apotheker also brushed aside key executives and left the troops uninspired, at best. <P> Some insiders close to Apotheker insisted he is brilliant, and so we often gave him the benefit of the doubt. But time and again he disappointed us with his banality, or by taking issue with the premise of a question rather than just providing a truthful answer. He seemed more enthralled with escaping an issue or trying to leave his questioner wounded than with articulating a strategy. Or maybe he just didn't have one. <P> It's unclear whether Apotheker failed HP more than the company failed itself--mostly by choosing him, but also by letting him rush so quickly into big decisions. HP is the cloud. HP is all-in on mobile. HP is a software company. The PC business is too different from all of our other businesses. <P> Recently, we asked <a href="http://informationweek.com/video/1324073803001">HP chairman Ray Lane</a> what single thing changed between the company's announcement last summer that it was exploring spinning off its PC unit and new CEO Meg Whitman's decision a month ago to keep it intact. "It was too expensive," Lane replied. "The economics didn't work ... The cost to do the separation, the cost to set up two companies, the cost to each company and especially to HP was too great." <P> Fair enough, but it's a conclusion HP should have come to behind closed doors, before making such a mess of things. 2011 was a year in which HP clutched defeat from the jaws of victory. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em>In early 2009, Cisco acquired Pure Digital, maker of the ever-popular Flip video camera, for almost $600 million. The Flip devices had ushered in a new form factor, packaging HD video into a camera the size of a deck of cards. <P> Cisco saw a chance to put its brand behind a device whose traffic would fill the pipes of an Internet built on Cisco technology. It saw a device into which it could embed its dominant Wi-Fi technology, catering to the YouTube and Facebook generation. And it saw an opportunity to build its brand with consumers instead of remaining a faceless company behind utility infrastructure. <P> And then in late 2010, with hype normally reserved for a new i-something, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/infrastructure/reviews/227700290">Cisco presented us with Umi</a>, a home telepresence system that was sexy good, though flawed from here to Cisco Way. At the time, I wrote: "There's plenty to like here. On the surface, at least, the quality and packaging of the technology are high. But there's also plenty to question, like whether Cisco can capture consumers, the debilitating effect of a closed ecosystem, and the price." <P> None of it worked out. Cisco's consumer foray became a major distraction for the company, which at the same time was trying to define and own a new generation of data centers behind its Unified Computing and Servers (UCS) architecture, competing with the likes of HP, Brocade, and Dell as it struggled to maintain the profit margins it once commanded. In April, Cisco abandoned its Flip business after only two years. Cisco was slow to re-invent it, or re-invent itself. <P> Having watched John Chambers create immense value for shareholders and customers over the years, I have little doubt that Cisco will figure out a way to recover, but clearly 2011 wasn't a banner year. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>I have a soft spot in my heart for RIM. As a longtime BlackBerry user, as an industry observer and writer whose audience is enterprise IT, I watched over the years as RIM just kept getting things right. Although 2011 was the year when mobile device management products multiplied like bunnies from a rabbit brothel, RIM has owned MDM for many years. Even now, as RIM moves its management capabilities to the cloud and starts to embrace iPhones and Android devices thanks to its Ubitexx acquisition, the BlackBerry Enterprise Server is still the high-performance, secure device management technology to beat. <P> A problem now for RIM is that there is formidable competition. A bigger problem is that enterprise IT managers have succumbed to the immovable forces of Apple and Google. The biggest problem is that though RIM's core services remain strong, the other parts of its mobile ecosystem were felled ages ago. I remember two years ago asking a top RIM executive when the company would have a touch experience. He showed me that the trackpad was very much like a touch interface. I sent him back to Canada with a gentle pat on the back. <P> But just when you thought things couldn't get worse for RIM, they have. <P> Following a September financial statement that featured a <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/231601528>15% drop in revenue and an anemic 750,000 BlackBerry Playbook tablets sold</a>, analysts and shareholders called for the heads of RIM's co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Laziridis, and a complete restructuring of the company. Then, in mid-October, <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231900616>a worldwide BlackBerry network outage</a> left users without service for days. The rock-solid BlackBerry service also was now in question. <P> Earlier this month, <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/232300097>RIM took a $485 million fourth-quarter charge to write down unsold PlayBooks</a>, even after the company's steep discounts. Sales of RIM's newest BlackBerry phones started well, but the company is already warning that revenue will be less than its earlier guidance. Then RIM lost the name of its newly announced operating system, BBX, in a court battle, and to top it all off, two RIM executives got unruly on a recent flight, leading to their arrest and subsequent firing. <P> Unless RIM can get its mojo back, its remaining customers will trickle away when contracts expire, and <a href="http://blog.tinymission.com/blog/blogengine.web/post/2011/11/04/Top-Reasons-To-Avoid-Blackberry-Development.aspx">its developers--already frustrated and confused</a>--will move on as well. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>A year ago, Apple held more than 95% of the global tablet market, according to a <a href="http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-android-tablet-market-share-grows-23-269-12-months/2011-10-21">Strategy Analytics study cited by Fierce Wireless</a>. Today, Apple still dominates, even though its market share has declined to 67%. But considering that about 15 vendors--the likes of Samsung, HTC, LG, Vizio, Acer, Asus, RIM, HP, Sony, and Lenovo--comprise that other 33%, Apple remains a one-company army fending off a bunch of also-rans. <P> That won't last. Even with the iPad 3 on the horizon, Android devices are sure to take even more market share in 2012, especially with Barnes & Noble and Amazon joining the fray. The year 2013 will mark the beginning of Microsoft's ascent with Windows 8. For now, however, Apple is still king. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>Apple has done it again, tarnishing an otherwise successful product launch--iPhone 4S--with another curious failure, from a company hell bent on perfecting the user experience. Last time, it was <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/226100054">an antenna problem that caused dropped calls</a> if users held the phone in just the wrong spot. This time, it's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231902063">sub-par battery life</a>. <P> Because Apple is Apple, this failure hasn't hurt sales much--the company has sold several million iPhone 4S devices since introducing it in October. It sold more than a million on the first day alone. <P> Still, the battery problem was almost comically bad. A faster processor, a better camera, a voice-enabled assistant (Siri), and a vastly improved operating system (iOS 5) are hardly worthwhile if users must constantly recharge their phones or buy battery cases that bulk them up. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>In March, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/229301309">AT&T and T-Mobile announced a merger</a>, valued at $39 billion, that would let AT&T overtake Verizon as the No. 1 U.S. mobile carrier, as measured by revenue and subscribers. AT&T said the merger would create jobs, as if it were a private sector stimulus plan. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/232200402">But the Department of Justice, the FCC, Sprint</a>, and pretty much everyone with access to blogging software began to question the deal. The DOJ filed an antitrust suit, and AT&T withdrew its application from the FCC in order to fight the DOJ suit and took a $4 billion charge to mitigate what it will likely have to pay T-Mobile when the deal officially collapses. That's a hefty price to pay for failure. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>Here's a bonus failure. It's easy to sit here and bang away at the missteps of others. It's not so easy to look within, but here goes. For much of this year, we at <em>InformationWeek</em> have been using Jive SBS software as our online story commenting system. The software never quite worked. For us, it required constant system reboots, which often deleted the comments you had posted. For you, it required several painful steps to post a comment, including an absolutely annoying captcha feature, and then it often wasn't clear whether the post had gone through. <P> We received a lot of reader complaints; many of you just stopped trying to post comments. It took us a while, but we finally got it--we switched our commenting system to Disqus</a> in September and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/digital-content/231602475">apologized for making the old process miserable</a>. The new system has been running smoothly ever since. <P> OK, maybe that's not an "epic" fail, but it sure felt like it to us. And thus, we're thankful for your feedback in 2011. It has brought us much success, and we look forward to more in 2012. <em>--Fritz Nelson</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>In July, VMware set off some unexpected fireworks when it announced its new vSphere 5.0 product was coming with a pricing change that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/virtual/231002607">increased overall licensing costs</a> for large enterprise customers. When <em>InformationWeek</em> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">surveyed our readers about the VMware pricing change</a>, they spoke clearly. In our survey, 25% called it a major deterrent to adoption, 27% called it somewhat of a deterrent, and 9% called it a deal breaker. After griping like this from customers--and some pundits making comparisons to Microsoft and Oracle licensing pain--VMware modified the policy, within a few weeks. <P> VMware CEO Paul Maritz learned a thing or two while he was at Microsoft. He loves to use certain catchphrases in his speeches, such as comparing his cloud competitors to Hotel California, where "you can check in, but you can never leave." The company that Gates built also taught him about cash cows <em>and</em> the importance of not being seen as greedier than Larry Ellison. <P> Maritz's team took a black eye for this episode from some of its customers running the fastest with virtualization, though by the time he gathered the faithful for the VMworld conference later in the summer, the bruised customer feelings had mostly healed. (See what else <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Charles Babcock thinks <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/virtual/232200418">VMware did right and wrong in 2011</a>.) <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>In the wake of protests in January 2011, Egypt's government, led by President Hosni Mubarak, decided to just say no to Twitter and Facebook for its citizens--then <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/policy/229200056">turned off Internet access</a> entirely for almost a week with the help of the country's four ISPs. <P> As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Mathew Schwartz reported, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a think-tank based in Paris, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/management/229201128">estimates that the blackout cost Egypt's economy about $90 million</a>, or $18 million per day, comprising 3% to 4% of the country's economic output. Mubarak was forced out in February after several weeks of violent protests and is awaiting trial on a variety of charges. <P> The "Arab Spring" of protests was one reason that <em>Time</em> just declared <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_2102132,00.html">The Protester its person of the year, 2011</a>. <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>Just when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg started to look grown up, meeting President Barack Obama and even donning a suit for the occasion, his company made another privacy gaffe. In June, Facebook quietly rolled out a facial recognition feature change that made it easier for people to tag friends in photos, or tag large batches of photos at once. More than a year after a much-analyzed privacy revamp in May 2010, Facebook seemed <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/230500179">not to have learned its privacy lesson</a>. <P> In November, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/privacy/232200385">Facebook settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission</a> that it had not done a sufficient job of protecting consumer privacy--a settlement that included fines and agreeing to 20 years of privacy audits. <P> Facebook <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/privacy/232200477">promised users</a>, as part of that settlement, that future privacy settings tweaks would have an opt-in approach. Status: Users will have to wait and see. <P> Want to poke your own fun at Zuck? "The Social Network" (two-disc collector's edition!) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Social-Network-Two-Disc-Collectors/dp/B0034G4P7G"> movie can be yours now for a mere $10.49 from Amazon.com</a>. <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>As so often happens in the tech world, Carrier IQ came out of obscurity seemingly overnight--but not in a good way. In early December, the company suddenly found itself competing on the front page of Google News along with Lindsey Lohan as a recipient of the splashiest headlines. <P> The company's smartphone monitoring software, which stored Web browsing information and related data in the name of improving wireless network performance, came under fire for being hard to find--and even harder to remove. Carrier IQ first threatened to sue a security researcher about his <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903096">initial findings on the software utility</a>, then softened its tone. As of Dec. 14, Carrier IQ had <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/232300509">released a 19-page report</a>, detailing what data it tracks, and said that it didn't share that data with police or entities such as the FBI. <P> <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Jonathan Feldman dubbed the Carrier IQ episode "the Jerry Sandusky of mobility, an insane breach of trust," for enterprise IT, and called on device makers to adopt Apple's no-crapware approach. <P> Looks like Carrier IQ execs won't be having a very merry holiday---but a lucky public relations firm or two might make a mint in 2012 trying to restore the company's image. <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>There are fails in the public sector, too, and one was when the National Cancer Institute discovered that it had a problem on its hands to the tune of $350 million for an ambitious project. In March, the NCI's board of scientific advisers issued a report that said <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/enterprise-architecture/229401221">the CaBIG cancer research grid project was riddled with problems</a>, <em>InformationWeek</em>'s John Foley reported. <P> The CaBIG (Cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid) project aimed to provide shared computing power for biomedical research, plus produce software and formats to help scientists at NCI-funded cancer centers share results. But the advisers found too few cancer centers were using the resources, and that the effort had mushroomed into an unwieldy "software enterprise" of more than 70 applications, Foley reported. The board called for a halt on new development and a thorough audit, among other changes. File under: Software project scope gone wrong. <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>RSA, makers of the SecurID two-factor authentication technology that is core to the security strategies of hundreds of enterprises, found out in March that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/229400151">even core security technologies can be compromised</a>. As <em>Dark Reading</em>'s Tim Wilson says of the attack, "the very foundation of tokens and authentication is shaken, not to mention one of the oldest and most respected security companies." RSA found itself in the position of explaining to customers that a strong security organization can be taken down by a sophisticated attack. In October, RSA chief Arthur Coviello <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/231900632">pinned blame for the advanced persistent threat attack on a nation state</a>, without naming names. Even now, security experts <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/231903048">continue to speculate just what SecurID data was nabbed</a>, because parent company EMC has not disclosed full details. <P> On the flipside of the coin, Sony's less sophisticated security strategy was defeated with ease, beginning in April, Wilson notes. Breaches <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/229402362">affected millions of customers' personal data</a> and touched the PlayStation Network, the Qriocity streaming video and music service, and SonyPitcures.com. <P> Sony was hacked "multiple times from multiple vectors by multiple attackers, and it didn't even seem to be difficult. Even the attacker commented on it," Wilson said. In September, Sony <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/security/231600846">hired its first chief information security officer</a>, former Homeland Security official and Microsoft exec Philip Reitinger, as <em>InformationWeek</em>'s J. Nicholas Hoover reported. <em>--Laurianne McLaughlin</em> <P> <strong>Recommended Reading</strong> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/mobility/smart_phones/231903291">10 Android App Flops</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231000302">My Mistake: 10 CIOs Share Do-Over Worthy Moments</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/hardware/virtual/231500085">VMware Pricing Controversy: Exclusive User Research</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/windows/reviews/231000492">Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Top 10 Enterprise Concerns</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231002141">Lenovo Takes On 7 Rivals: Tablet Faceoff</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/infrastructure/reviews/229402999">InformationWeek Analytics Presents: The Best of Interop 2011</a> <P> <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/229403039">IT Salaries: 9 Ways We've Changed (Or Not) From 2001's Heyday</a>2011-11-28T12:36:00ZCyber Monday means mobile Monday for many buyers this year. Are you finally ready to trade in your beloved BlackBerry?http://www.informationweek.com/news/232200250?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> If you're a gadget person, this holiday season offers plenty of temptation, from new tablets to a bigger-than-ever array of phones. But for RIM, this holiday season <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/232200116">looks to deliver more of the same lumps</a> that have been coming all year. As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Fritz Nelson notes, enterprise IT has finally "loosened its death-grip" on BlackBerry. That leaves those of you seeking a new phone that will work for work and play with three main choices: iPhone, Android, and Microsoft Windows Phone 7. <P> Nelson, a longtime BlackBerry fan, spent several weeks with all three of these top rivals. Don't miss his <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/232200123>in-depth look at life with each of the phones</a>--and the reasons why he went with the phone that Jobs built. <P> You must be sure that your enterprise IT team is fully ready to explain the rules and handle the wave of devices that will arrive from now until holiday time, as people treat themselves to those new gadgets. That's not new. But what is new is increased attention by the C-suite on your overall mobile device management strategy, both in terms of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/security/232200165">cost and completeness</a>. <P> And as columnist Craig Mathias points out, you have more options, but a lack of industry standards as you craft your complete mobile management plan: "Is mobile device management something one operates in one's data center, a service one buys from a carrier or operator, a service provided by a third party on a device/network-independent basis, or perhaps an open-systems mix-and-match solution based on standards that--oh, wait, we really don't have standards here yet," he writes. "My mistake." <P> There's not a lot of good news for T-Mobile fans this Cyber Monday. As <em>InformationWeek's</em> Eric Zeman reported last week, T-Mobile is <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/232200142">running low on moves</a> if the AT&T acquisition doesn't come to pass. On Thanksgiving, AT&T <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/232200230>showed it is willing to go to great lengths to salvage the T-Mobile bid</a>, even as AT&T officially said that it had withdrawn its merger application from the FCC. <P> Are you wondering just how many Kindle Fires will be walking in your enterprise's door? Amazon is <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/handheld/232200246">being coy about the precise number of Kindle Fire tablets that it has moved</a> since Black Friday. Amazon will only say that "it sold four times as many Kindle products on Black Friday as it did last year, and that Kindle Fire, which features a color touchscreen, topped all Kindle sales," <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Paul McDougall reports. <P> It's too early to judge exactly how the Amazon and Apple tablet sales contest will play out when the dust settles after December 25. That Target reports the lower-priced Kindle Fire is selling briskly with its shoppers is not a surprise. But one player that looks out of the game is RIM, with retailers pulling the PlayBook from inventory. "A check of Best Buy's site early Monday showed that the devices were still listed, but not currently available for Web purchase or store pick up--a sign that the PlayBook may turn out to be the real Thanksgiving turkey," McDougall notes. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <i>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>. </i>2011-11-21T12:18:00ZBig scary warnings about Android security just keep on coming. Are you focused on the right MDM questions?http://www.informationweek.com/news/231903486?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> With great power comes great responsibility, for the security community. The current noise and hype level around Android security has become so loud that I wonder if many people are simply tuning it out. As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Eric Zeman points out, Juniper, Symantec, and Kaspersky Labs have all been making dire warnings about increased threats to Android devices from malware. <P> You've probably seen the same string of headlines I have, like "Android's a malware magnet, says McAfee" and "2011 Is The Year Of Mobile Malware." Maybe you've seen the big scary numbers, too, like Juniper's claim that the ranks of mobile malware have risen 472% since July. <P> Zeman, no newcomer to mobile, notes that vendors have ratcheted up the scare factor pretty quickly-- given that a phone-to-phone threat that has yet to surface in a widespread way. Check out his take on <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903411">where the truth lies</a> between the vendor warnings and the critics' opinions on Android security. <P> Of course, as one reader commented on Zeman's story, mobile security also depends largely on user behavior: "If you don't want apps to have access to your personal data, then don't install apps that say they are going to access your personal data. It really is that simple. No app will ever have access to your personal data unless you have explicitly given it permission to access that data," <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/article_231903411/permalink/comment/369318699">writes DLYNCH294</a>. <P> The hype around mobile device management hasn't been much better this year, says our MDM expert, Mike Davis, in his well-balanced column on <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903087">Top 5 MDM Must-Do's</a>. <P> As Davis notes about a recent conference talk: <em>"I will most likely get hate email for saying this, but ... MDM technology is all pretty much the same; <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8546/Mobility-Wireless/buyer-s-guide-mdm.html">maybe 10% of features are unique</a>, usually around self-registration capabilities and enhanced encryption. And I don't see that changing, even though Google and IBM got in the game this week, each announcing it will have an MDM product available soon."</em> <P> If the vendor offerings prove that similar, Davis says, that means your recipe for staying safe in the enterprise boils down to three factors: planning, process, and policy enforcement. Check out his advice. <P> See our <a href="http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/18/8484/Mobility-Wireless/research-mobile-device-management.html"><em>InformationWeek</em> 2011 Mobile Device Management and Security Survey</a> for more on how your peers are dealing with MDM. (It's free with registration.) <P> Amazon's Android-based Kindle Fire tablet poses a special problem, because your trusty <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231903118">enterprise mobile device management tools don't work with the Fire</a> yet. The safest choice now: Block the device from connecting to your enterprise network, though users won't like it. <P> Looking ahead, Amazon also plans an Android Kindle phone in 2012--though <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Thomas Claburn fears it could <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231903425">flop if Amazon makes a me-too design choice</a>. "Amazon wants to sell you a phone so you'll buy Amazon App Store apps and Kindle e-books, which will almost certainly be readable on this expected Kindle phone (too bad the name Phondle won't fly)," writes Claburn. <P> Phondle. Don't you love it? That would not be a me-too name. <P> One thing's certain. Enterprise IT will not be fond of the Phondle if Amazon doesn't see its way clear to letting users connect to an app store that will allow install of enterprise-grade MDM tools. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-11-14T12:54:00ZHCL says virtualization and cloud technologies are automating the roles that it used to fill with lots of H-1B workers. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231902976?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Need any more of a wake up call that virtualization and cloud computing are automating some of yesterday's lower-level IT jobs? When <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Paul McDougall sat down with Krishnan Chatterjee, head of global strategy and marketing at HCL Technologies, last week, he mentioned those technologies automating the roles that his company used to fill. <P> That's one reason that HCL, Chaterjee says, is trying to do the pricier kind of strategic consulting these days--the kind that's IBM's specialty, the kind that HP and Dell would like to dominate, too. <P> <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/services/outsourcing/231902873>"You can look at the early signs that the Indian IT model is over</a>," Chanerjee told McDougall. <P> "Many of these engagements--such as building a digital supply chain to support an e-commerce initiative--require onsite specialists with skills in project management and architectural design," McDougall notes. The kicker: HCL says that going forward, more of these jobs will go to people living in the United States. <P> <strong>&#91; Want to boost your social networking and professional appeal to recruiters and potential employers? See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/231601556/10-linkedin-tips-for-it-pros?itc=edit_in_body_cross"> 10 LinkedIn Tips for IT Pros</a>. &#93;</strong> <P> But consider the overall numbers: "To meet demand for onshore services, HCL is building out its presence in the U.S. Company officials said about 8,000 of the their 83,000 employees are now in the United States, and that number will grow," McDougall writes. "Ultimately, it wants more than 12% of its employees to be based in the U.S. or Europe by 2015. About 40% of HCL's current U.S.-based workers are Americans or green card holders; the rest are on H-1B and other temporary visas. Officials say they also want a larger percentage of their U.S.-based workers to be citizens or permanent residents." <P> How much of this is public relations? How many jobs will actually play out for non H-1B applicants? Those are wait and see questions. Check out the still-hot debate around <em>InformationWeek</em> Editor-in-Chief Rob Preston's recent column, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231902699">Foreigners Don't Take IT Jobs, They Create Them</a>. <P> But those old babysit-a-server-or-database jobs? There's no career path there, HCL is saying. <P> As for tomorrow's IT jobs, some of them are a far cry from caring for servers or tweaking databases. For instance, let's talk Ford. Yes, Ford. As my colleague Chris Murphy explains in an intriguing column, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231902920">Ford just became a software company</a>. <P> "Sometime early next year, Ford will mail USB sticks to about 250,000 owners of vehicles with its advanced touchscreen control panel. The stick will contain a major upgrade to the software for that screen. With it, Ford is breaking from a history as old as the auto industry, one in which the technology in a car essentially stayed unchanged from assembly line to junk yard," Murphy writes. <P> Who does Ford need to design and keep revising its own software platform? Traditional software developers, plus human-machine interface engineers "who study how people interact with technology," Murphy writes. "Ford has been cultivating these people from within since the early 2000s. HMI engineers come from a range of backgrounds, from software development to mechanical engineers. They're people who can live in worlds of art and science at once," Murphy notes. <P> Not exactly your image of a Ford assembly line? Mine either. But if I was a freshly-minted technology or engineering grad, I'd like the sound of those jobs. That type of artist gets an interesting canvas--and doesn't sound easily replaceable. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-11-09T11:56:00ZYou don't get to simply load your old enterprise IT problems on a truck and arrive at a new abode. But you do get to decide what kind of IT shop to become.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231902670?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> A security expert whom I follow on Twitter recently took issue with journalists' continued insistence on writing headlines about <em>moving</em> to the cloud, racing to the cloud, and traveling to the cloud. He's absolutely right. You don't move to the cloud. The cloud is not a place, when we speak of it in computing terms. It is an operational model (with many variations) that you adopt--and then continue to adapt. <P> You change your IT staff, your IT operations, and some of the tools in use, in order to accommodate this model. But you don't get to simply load your old enterprise IT problems on a truck and arrive at a new place. <P> To put place aside and use a different analogy, cloud computing is more like a marriage. Once you get married, the hard work of making the marriage successful for both people really begins. Once you transition to a cloud model, you and your team will be working at it for years. <P> This cloud move terminology is a headline-writing habit that I have vowed to break, so we will try hard not to move to the cloud anymore here on InformationWeek.com. <P> We will, however, be closely watching that cloud model evolve, and examining what makes it work for enterprises. Case in point: <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Charles Babcock recently sat down with Cloud Technology Partners execs to talk to them about the framework that they use with customers preparing for private cloud projects. Consider their advice in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/231901928">6 Big Questions For Private Cloud Projects</a>. <P> You must start with the very practical--exactly what is getting done in legacy applications, for example--but move on to the visionary: What kind of IT shop do you want to become? Does the cloud model mean, for you, that you'll get rid of lots of hardware? Chop IT delivery times in half? Have a nimble group of in-house developers using open source tools, or stick with trusted vendors who now speak SaaS? Moving to a mythical, offsite place "in the cloud" would be a lot easier. <P> For most enterprises, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/231900171">private vs. public cloud</a>, still a favorite debate among cloud industry types, is not an either/or question, or a question of which cloud is "true cloud". It's a question of mix. What stays private for now, and what moves to public, and when. <P> My UBM colleague Greg MacSweeney of <em>Wall St. & Technology</em> had an interesting <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/platform/231902647">interview with Adam Selipsky, vice president of Amazon Web Services</a>. AWS says even financial services customers--who of course face some of the toughest security and compliance hurdles--are re-examining their attitudes toward cloud security. <P> Though Selipsky declined to share how many financial services customers AWS has now, he shared some interesting examples of banking and related customers edging into some tasks being done using the public cloud model. (See, no moving to the cloud.) <P> "We've not found that the size of the bank is a big factor in determining the rate of adoption," Selipsky told MacSweeney. "AWS has financial institutions of all sizes leveraging the services. For example, Bankinter, one of Spain's five largest banks, has adopted AWS for their credit risk simulations. Bankinter uses HPC on AWS to run credit risk simulations to evaluate the financial health of their clients. By incorporating AWS into their IT environment, Bankinter has managed to take their average time for running simulations from 23 hours to 20 minutes." <P> That's not a place. That's a smashing process success. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-11-03T12:30:00ZThe iPhone 4S is one of the year's highest-profile tech products, from a company with a slavish devotion to getting every detail right. How does this happen?http://www.informationweek.com/news/231902258?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Apple finally acknowledged Wednesday what iPhone 4S users have been saying for weeks: Something is rotten in the state of battery-ville. The company's mea culpa was limited and, many users immediately noted, late. In a <a href="http://allthingsd.com/20111102/apple-some-ios5-bugs-prompting-iphone-battery-issues">statement to AllThings D</a>, an Apple spokesperson said "A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks." <P> A few "bugs"--and a few weeks wait for a fix. There are two ways to look at these two pieces of information. The first is: Mobile is complicated; wireless networks are constantly changing animals; vendors goof; be patient and all will be better in a few weeks. The second is: This is one of the most anticipated, discussed, planned--and I would assume, tested--products of the year, from a company that has a slavish devotion to getting every detail right. How the heck does this happen? <P> Based on the comments Thursday in the <a href="https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3391947?tstart=0">Apple support community discussion</a> on this topic, the faithful are seeing it the second way. <P> Consider this comment in that Apple forum from LeftyPBJ: "All I can say right now is that this is completely ridiculous. I've tried to read many of the postings/hints by other discussion board members (which I do appreciate). However, I've had to spend time turning off this setting and that setting and this one and that one ... and changing this one and that one. It's crazy that I have to have a device with 75% of the functionality turned off in order for the battery usage to be at a semi "normal" level." <P> "Besides shutting off data and phone service, or just shutting off the phone completely ... I don't know what more I can do," he continues. "I feel like I have purchased a device which is MAJORLY FLAWED. I will try to be patient until this "fix" is released by Apple ... but my patience is really wearing thin. I don't think I would be half as annoyed if I could buy a replacement battery to have as a back-up. Since Apple's devices are sealed, I need to make sure I have an adequate charge AT ALL TIMES. Any other phone, you can easily swap-out batteries and have a fully-charged one ready to go as a back-up." <P> <strong>&#91; Need help conserving the juice on your Apple iPhone 4S? See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231901930?itc=edit_in_body_cross">4 Fixes For iPhone 4S Battery Woes</a>. &#93;</strong> <P> I can't help but wonder what the public reaction would be if this were a Microsoft mobile device, not an Apple one. <P> Apple has done a public relations favor for every phone maker for the next year. The next time battery life on a hot new device stinks, people will now say, "Well, this is hard. Even <em>Apple</em> messed it up." <P> For now, there are steps you can take to preserve your iPhone 4S battery life and perhaps your mental health. My colleague Thomas Claburn has shared <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231901930">4 useful tips for conserving iPhone 4S battery life</a>. Also, as<em>InformationWeek</em>'s Fritz Nelson points out, you can buy an <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231902063">iPhone 4S battery pack from a company like Mophie</a>. <P> We'll be staying on the batterygate story as it develops. Some bloggers are already obsessing with comparisons of how Apple handled this compared to the previous iPhone "Antennagate" crisis. <P> But the truth is, that's inside baseball. Users just want a reasonable explanation of how this could have happened, and a quick fix. Was Apple so up against a wall timing-wise that it pushed a phone with serious, known battery-draining software issues? <P> By the way, another company made a mea culpa Wednesday and got considerably less grief. Google released, then quickly pulled, its iPhone and iPad app for Gmail, due to what the company called a bug. No word yet on when the fixed version will return to the App Store. In its Gmail Twitter feed, the company said, among other things, "Sorry we messed up." <P> We have come to expect Google to be in some state of constant beta testing, it seems. Apple, however, has never had that reputation. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-10-27T11:58:00ZAs Windows XP's end of life date for support looms, IT pros navigate an old Bermuda Triangle of pain. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231901797?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Windows transitions can be counted upon to generate harrumphs from IT vets. The training. The costs. The potential to trip up to your career path, by advocating a bad strategy. It's a Bermuda Triangle of potential pain. Now that Microsoft has made it clear that it will not extend the date on which Microsoft XP support ends, tension is rising for some IT shops. <P> As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Paul McDougall <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/231901575">reported on XP's looming retirement</a>, there's "absolutely no chance" that Windows XP's April, 2014 end-of-life date, when Microsoft will end all support, will be extended. <P> XP turned 10 this week. OSes, though, still have incredible records for lingering. <em>InformationWeek</em> surveyed IT pros on Windows 8 deployment plans this month, and the results came along with some interesting data on your old friend, Windows XP. A full 90% of the respondents to our survey are still running some Windows XP machines in their organizations. <P> More than half of you who said you're planning an upgrade to Win 8 are doing so from XP. <P> And 30% of those not upgrading to Windows 8 plan to stick with XP for as long as possible. (This <em>InformationWeek</em> survey involved 973 business technology professionals at organizations with 500 or more employees.) <P> No wonder then, that this Windows XP support deadline got <em>InformationWeek</em> readers talking with intention. <P> Nic Oatridge has this <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/article_231901575/permalink/comment/344701035">comment</a> for McDougall's report: "Microsoft will not support XP because it makes more money by withdrawing a product than keeping it going. The underlying software is perfectly robust--indeed if Microsoft had donated NT into the open source community they could have killed Linux." <P> ajones320 <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/article_231901575/permalink/comment/345322818">sees looming dollar signs</a> for his organization: "There is also a concern to cost. Why replace a well working XP with a well working W7 when it brings little to no gain in any area, but costs hundreds of dollars for a new license and potentially more to replace legacy hardware not supported under W7?" <P> "While important, end of support isn't really the big issue," <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/article_231901575/permalink/comment/344058275">says</a> <em>InformationWeek</em> contributing editor Jim Rapoza. "As has been pointed out, there are still more than a few companies out there with significant Win 2000 deployments. As in that case, there will be third-party tools available to keep systems patched. <P> "The real problem is that nothing else will be updated to run on Win XP. Browser makers won't make new versions for XP, AV software won't run and, in general, you'll be stuck running a lot of old, and potentially unsecured, software." <P> And rmanske53101 <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/article_231901575/permalink/comment/345953967">points out</a> that our attitude on mobile OSes has become quite different: "I would bet that those commenting here about upgrading a 10 year old OS and Microsoft making money from it are some of those who wait in lines to by the next iPhone or download the next verison of their phones OS the day it comes out. Let's be real and honest, don't we all want better, faster, safer, flashier and yes, a more stable OS for our IT devices?" <P> How big of a deal is this looming deadline for you? Join the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/231901575">discussion on Windows XP end of life plans</a>. <P> By the way, if you think Windows XP is scary, consider what's hiding in the really dark, back hallway closets at some companies: Seven percent of respondents to our survey say they're still running some Windows NT, 98, or 95 machines. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-10-24T11:58:00ZEach of these three transitions requires a large cultural transition for IT. How are you dealing with all three at once? http://www.informationweek.com/news/231901502?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> At the EMC Forum event for customers in Foxboro, Mass., last week, EMC told customers that it stands ready to help them navigate the path to a hybrid cloud model. But technology may not be the hardest part of that journey. CIOs are keenly aware of this fact: As my colleague Rob Preston noted recently, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231901248">finding the right people</a> for the IT team ranks above many technology issues on CIO priority lists. <P> As I sat down to talk with Jeremy Burton, EMC's CMO, our conversation quickly turned to the cultural transition that IT is being asked to pull off right now. Burton says three trends swirling at once are creating a perfect storm sort of time for IT leaders. <P> First, as EMC's President and COO Pat Gelsinger told the crowd, "A whole bunch of new animals have come into the zoo." Without question, mobile and consumer IT have become part of enterprise IT planning, whether all IT leaders like it or not. You simply can't stop the newest phones and tablets from walking in the front door. (Check out this interesting look at who's safest: See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/231901415">The Three Most Frequently Attacked Mobile Devices</a>.) <P> At the same time, application development is undergoing a huge shift. "No one under 30 writes in Java anymore," Burton says. Developers want to talk Ruby or its peers. With good reason, VMware acquired SpringSource in 2009; Salesforce acquired Heroku. <P> Finally, virtualization and the cloud model continue to change long-held notions about what infrastructure should be, where it should live, and how it should be managed. 2012 is the year when more enterprises will move their tier-1, core applications to virtualized servers, Burton says. As Gelsinger told the crowd, "The craplications are done." CIOs have moved the easy stuff to the VMs. Now comes the hard part. <P> Most of EMC's customers are 30% to 40% virtualized now, Burton says. That figure will cross 50% in 2012, and then rise to 60% to 80% during the next three years, he estimates. <P> "Next year in IT, you'll see a rethinking of how to approach business stakeholders, "Burton says. "IT has to think about how they package what they do." <P> EMC's CIO, Sanjay Mirchandani, spends much of his time working on transforming EMC's IT operation into an IT-as-a-Service organization, Burton notes. His business analysts have to sell services, not just understand business requirements. <P> "This is when it gets interesting for service providers," Burton notes. When an IT organization bundles up the cost of say, the backup operation, and can compare that to the cost of an outside service provider, you get a lot more IT leaders thinking "why not go outside." <P> Of course, as demonstrated by the ongoing struggle to prove virtualization and cloud ROI--due to the poor understanding of baseline costs in many organizations--doing such financial comparisons is going to be a prized IT staff skill in itself. <P> EMC's plan, by the way, is not to become a service provider itself, but to partner with companies like Orange and SingTel around the world, where customers will find a standardized architecture so they can move VMs from place to place. <P> So the business is asking you to be an economist who understands virtualization and cloud capex and opex matters quite well. A marketer of IT services to the business. A master recruiter of tough-to-find talent. A tactful negotiator with end users who want to drive consumer IT. A flexible leader willing to work with young developers who want to experiment. <P> The amount of cultural IT change required in those requests is huge. <P> EMC stands ready to help you with the hardware part, and with the global network of service providers, but the cultural part? That's going to be much harder. <P> How are you preparing? Are your peers or your consulting partners helping enough? Who inside your organization is helping you most with the cultural transition? Share your comments below, so we can help you by driving future, detailed coverage on this topic. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <i>Surrounded by data? Demands from users for fast access? Endless retention policies? Cloud storage can help, say vendors. However, our survey reveals that IT is skeptical. <a href="http://analytics.informationweek.com/abstract/24/7534/Storage-Server/research-cloud-storage.html?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe">Read our report now</a>. (Free registration required.)</i>2011-10-18T11:51:00ZYou may not agree with Marc Benioff that Facebook looks like the future of the Web. But you'd better be ready for the mountain of data social media produces. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231901039?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> "Everything I want in a consumer OS is in Facebook," Salesorce.com CEO Marc Benioff told the audience at the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/specialreport/web2summit/sf/2011">Web 2.0 Summit</a> on Monday. <P> As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Fritz Nelson reports from the conference, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900982">Benioff says that's where enterprise users are learning about collaboration</a>. <P> I'm not sure that I buy that most of us collaborate very much on Facebook. We share; we riff; we entertain; we stay in touch. Sure, Facebook makes it easier to share information than many corporate software systems do (and at most companies, we all deal with too many systems, each with their own quirks and security.) <P> But Facebook <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/230500179">certainly has not won accolades from its user base</a> for its last few rounds of interface tweaks, nor for its continued fiddling with security settings. Unlike Google tools, Facebook hasn't become a widely-used part of the corporate workday. Yet it is our continued willingness to share via Facebook and its rivals that is creating a mountain of data for businesses to analyze. <P> "We're on the threshold of a new industry with data," <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900974">Benioff also told the Web 2.0 Summit conference audience</a>. <P> Big data captures the imagination of IT people because it helps them achieve the holy grail: Generate actionable data quickly to help the business make better decisions, innovate, and increase revenue. <P> But big, as it turns out, is just the start of the big data conversation. As <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Doug Henschen reports, <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/software/bi/231900914">variety, velocity, and volume</a> are the hallmarks of the big data era. It's not just about how big your big data store is. Check out the expert advice he shares on compressing the data, sharing the results, dealing with new types of data (including all that social media data,) and more. <P> The more velocity we have access to, the more we want, as business people--and as consumers. Think about it: Don't you expect your customer service requests to be acted upon more quickly now? Don't you expect your loyalty rewards benefits to kick in faster than ever? <P> I signed up for a hotel rewards program over the weekend and was shocked they didn't instantly send me a discount offer of some kind. "Didn't their database kick that out yet?" I couldn't help thinking. After all, I now get instant alerts on my iPhone when a favorite store is offering a one-afternoon discount. Data analysis speed. Your business team will never be sated, because your customers never will be. <P> Whose tools can help? See Henschen's anlaysis of the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231900870">12 Top Big Data Analytics Players</a>, with options ranging from Hadoop to Teradata. <P> Not up to speed on how your peers are using Hadoop or the other tools? Catch up by reading <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/software/bi/231500575">10 Lessons Learned By Big Data Pioneers</a>. <P> Stay up to date on all the discussions of big data analysis happening Tuesday and Wednesday at the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/specialreport/web2summit/sf/2011">Web 2.0 Summit, with our complete coverage</a>, including a video livestream. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-10-14T12:32:00ZRIM's enterprise IT faithful writhe in pain, while Apple's worshippers hold vigil to buy the iPhone 4S. Did RIM's outage explanation Thursday help at all?http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900830?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> I saw this when I fired up Twitter this morning: <P> " BREAKING: RIM employees calling in sick in order to buy iPhone 4S for themselves." <P> And this: "Dear #RIM, makers of my beloved #BlackBerry: Thank-you for honouring the death of Steve Jobs with 3 days of silence this week." <P> Finally, this: <P> "Dear Blackberry do you know what the #iPhone said to the #Blackberry? ..#iWork" <P> Oh, the gallows humor is getting pretty grim for RIM. <P> RIM's co-CEOs tried to explain this week's prolonged outage Thursday, but as <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Jonathan Feldman explains, the company <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231900785">failed to answer some key questions</a> that CIOs now have about the health of RIM's network. <P> Consider this <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/article_231900785/permalink/comment/334430837">reader comment</a> on Feldman's story: "RIM's architecture is so old: three data centers (two of them next to each other) for 60-70 million users. This generates such a high risk for the most mundane failure, such as this week's Cisco switch failover. RIM should have built multiple data centers in many countries years ago. In their poor judgment they didn't see the benefits of reduced risk as opposed to increase in operational cost. With the swoosh sound of departing customers, they must be realizing the stupidity of that short-sightedness. Only other sinister explanation for keeping data centers in Canada and the UK could be to keep their encryption software away from the reaches of regulators in countries like UAE, India, etc. <P> Time to move on, BB was a good solution 10 years ago. Not anymore. By the way, Apple may risk a similar fate if they pump iCloud too much while trying to cram everything in their North Carolina data center." <P> What do you think: Is RIM's once-prized reliability a thing of the past? Is its network done scaling? And if it is, what else does the company have to offer enterprise IT? See what Feldman and other IT pros say, then <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231900785">join the conversation by adding your take</a>. <P> Meanwhile, the Apple iPhone faithful lined up in the dark, as has become tradition, to get their mitts on the first iPhone 4S units at retail stores Friday morning, some offering tributes or memorials to Steve Jobs. Analysts predict this will be the record-setter iPhone rollout for sales, and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/231900778">early indications bear that out</a>, as Eric Zeman reported Thursday. <P> Journalist Harry McCracken of <a href="http://www.technologizer.com">Technologizer</a>, waiting in line at San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria Mall, told me Friday morning via Twitter that he had not met any disgruntled BlackBerry owners in line, just a lot of college students. That's not surprising, but disgruntled BlackBerry users were certainly lining up in corporate hallways to gripe this week. <P> It hasn't been all ecstasy for Apple this week, of course, as the reader comments happening on our coverage of the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231900684">disastrous iOS 5 update</a> shows. <P> These are the two faces of mobile today: People love smartphones enough that they will wait in the dark, in the rain even, to get the newest Apple creation. People need smartphones enough that even a short service outage is deemed unacceptable, and an outage this long could deal RIM a knockout punch. <P> People are passionate enough about phones to become an always-on, always-honest, worldwide network of mobile analysts on Twitter. <P> By the way, what about that other little phone player, Google? In announcing its record-setting quarterly revenue Thursday, Google disclosed that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/231900790">555,000 Android devices are now being activated daily</a>. <P> That's iLluminating news for RIM and Apple, isn't it? <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <em>SaaS productivity apps are good to go--if you can get past security and data ownership concerns. Read all about it in the new, all-digital issue of InformationWeek SMB. <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/gogreen/091211SMB?k=axxe&cid=article_axxe_os">Download it now</a>. (Free with registration.) </em>2011-10-07T12:20:00ZWhen InformationWeek's Eric Zeman argued that Apple-haters cracking on the iPhone 4S specs miss the point, some of you begged to differ. Join this hot reader debate.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900335?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsWhen <em>InformationWeek's</em> Eric Zeman wrote this week that he was <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/231900086">tired of the constant game of specsmanship</a> between Android and iPhone smartphone fans, you readers spoke. And how: The story had 48 comments as of Friday morning. Few tech devices inspire as much passion as smartphones do, and the passionate debate that you started on this topic is worth sharing--and continuing. <P> "Before the &#91;iphone 4s &#93; Apple press conference had ended, fanboyism began to run rampant across the Internet," Zeman wrote. "You could hear the smug tone of superiority in the voices of those who prefer other platforms and devices, in Web forums, comment threads, and on Twitter." <P> "Comparing individual specs between smartphones is like opening up the hood of a Ford Mustang and the hood of a BMW M3 and pointing out why one is better than the other based on its innards," Zeman wrote. It's the sum of a smartphone's parts that matters, he said. <P> You had plenty to say to that. <P> We've gathered up 12 debate-worthy comments below. Consider them, then <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/23190008">join the conversation</a>. <P> <strong>SmarterThanU <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328099051">writes</a>: </strong>"Author Zeman has it right - whatever device a human uses is best when it delivers what the human wants or needs, in the way it serves him or her best. His car analogy is great - some folks would fit best with a Mustang, and others with the Bimmer. Both great "devices" and both performance leaders in their fields, And it is not about engine displacement (processor) orr transmission (OS or motherboard). It is about the total experience that makes them winners to different people. <P> And think of people that are close to you. It is not about their IQ, or their measurements - it is how they make you happy and feel overall (I hope). " <P> <strong>jwc3642 <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328221675">writes</a>:</strong> "I don't think anyone would prefer the mustang over a M3." <P> <strong>AreCF <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328324568">writes</a></strong>:"jwc3642. Are you serious? Check Mustang sales vs. M3 (or even the entire 3-series sales). " <P> <strong>ANON1244594108572 <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328342397">writes</a>:</strong> "i find the people that search for specs, have no idea what the spec actually means... for instance those people who wanted "flash" last year... not a single one knew that it actually was a bad thing to have on their phone...(crashed/ drained the battery/ didn't actually play 60% of the content/ the content it did play was twice as slow as Html5 content/ no single flash web based game that used keys could actually play on their Android phone/ yet these clueless people wanted "flash" on their Android.... great... for them.. i guess...." <P> <strong>azhark <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328098417">writes</a>:</strong> "You're clearly not a very smart man. If you've tested nearly every phone on the market, you'd know that Windows phone users aren't 'risk-takers'. Infact, to even say that is really pompous, uncalled for, and clearly one of the most fan-boyish comments I've ever heard. You're undermining an OS that is clearly now, if not at par with Apple, providing a much needed gap between iOS and Android. You've clearly never used one, so don't lie about having used every phone on the market. As far as choosing phones go, people pick Apple not because it 'does what they need it to do', they pick Apple because their ecosystem is built in such a way where the user knows exactly where to go if they have a problem. Some people find that system super-efficient, while some find it suffocating. All phones now do what they need to, or what their users want them to. ALL the OS' are nearly at par and have almost identical features. <P> So please, keep your superiority complex to yourself, grow up, and stop crying over one bad Apple upgrade. Even being a WP7 user, I give Apple the respect they deserve. They'll deliver in time. " <P> <strong>Nicko <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328184088">writes</a>:</strong> "I think the author is partial to the iPhone, so he will probably tell you that unless you have hours and hours to tinker and make an Android 'usable' , you should get the iPhone. I believe that there is a lot more to it than that. <P> If you dislike iTunes, a Windows or Android would be preferable. If you really like iTunes, iPhone is probably easiest. If you need a physical keyboard, iPhone will not work for you. If you are already with a certain carrier, that may limit your choices. If you might use a lot of data (watching youtube videos or using Pandora radio), be aware that Sprint is the ONLY carrier that does not cap or throttle your data after it reaches a certain limit. Those that cap will charge outrageous prices for data overages. I have never used the new Windows Phone operating system, but have heard that it is very simple, easy to use, and allows you to quickly see or get done what you need to, rather than going through many screens - an advantage over either iPhone or Android. Android is very intuitive as well, despite iPhone fan's cries - otherwise it would not have roughly double the market share of the iPhone. It is easy enough for the masses to use. Perhaps its greatest strength is the number of options - from free to $200 and top of the line. <P> So really, it depends on what you want, what you need, and you specific preferences. I am betting you could learn how to use any smart phone operating system." <P> <strong>anonymoustache <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328155022">writes</a>: </strong> "When the iPhone came out years ago, my early adopter friend immediately bought one at the exorbitant price of $600. I was in the market for a new phone and did my research comparing specs and I purchased a Sony Ericsson P1i. All the specs at the time were better than the iPhone; better camera, physical keyboard, etc. <P> I didn't want to be a iPhone drone though I owned an iPod and a MacBook Pro and was highly satisfied with each. <P> Years passed and when the iPhone exceeded the specs on my P1i, I bought one. I had been so consumed with specs that I had lost sight of the most important spec; user experience. My girlfriend bought a Droid a few months ago because she wanted the physical keyboard and had heard great things about the device. I wasn't convinced because when my parents and brother became early adopters of the first Droid, I had the opportunity to try the interface. Yes, the specs are there but what a lousy interface. It seemed that the engineers that designed the phone had realized that the interface was the most important aspect. <P> If I have a car with all the bells and whistles and I have to read the manual to figure out how to set the clock, the car becomes less desirable. I may have a wonderful piece of engineering, but understanding how an actual user will experience the car is the most important aspect in my opinion. <P> So, the iPhone 4 has become and integral part of my daily existence. My girlfriend prefers my phone over her Droid. This is because the Droid, while extremely versatile and a powerful device, takes a manual to understand. I wish the iPhone was more customizable, true. But the overall experience has been a joy and I wouldn't trade it. " <P> <strong>captbilly <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328159418">writes</a>: </strong> "The only reason why one may not be able to find the best phone by simply looking at the specs is because the specs that really matter have not been well quantified. I have had all the iphones, several Android phones and several windows mobile phones, and the bottom line is that the top of the line Android phones are better than the iphone, while the Windows mobile phones are unbearably quirky. 4g does matter, as does the siz of the screen or the speed of the device (notice I didn't say speed of the processor). But in the end it is the whole package that the user deals with. You may have to put up with a plastic case to get the 4g and Android OS, or you may have to give up the cute little phone you find appealing to get the actual functionality you want. <P> Apple will continue to lose market share to Android as long as they try to fit every customer into a single piece of hardware, and a single closed system. Last summer I predicted that Android (then 1/3 the size of ios) would surpass ios market share within a year. In fact, the Android market share is now double that of ios, and is still growing. If Apple continues to think that they can sell the promise of coolness as if it was the same as the best product, theynwill continue to lose market share. Maybe Apple only wants the niche market of high customers who are satisfied to pay more for less, it has made Apple money before, but I just don't think they can do it with such obviously lower tech products (oh, and a lot of lawsuits). " <P> <strong> hlubinv8l <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328185496">writes</a>: </strong>" Eric, I agree with you 100%. <P> People who buy products (any products) on specifications alone often miss out on the better option. <P> Comparing the specs of a garbage truck and a Ferrari, a person who is looking at the specifications only would choose to drive the garbage truck, because it has a larger & more powerful engine than the Ferrari, it has larger wheels than the Ferrari, it has a more roomy interior than the Ferrari, etc." <P> <strong>G2G <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328303676">writes</a>: </strong> "You hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head. After all we are talking about smart-phones. Not sure which of those two words to scream more loudly. I would love to conduct a test. Take the most popular Android anchor and any iPhone right out of the box (helps if they are activated, but no customization whatsoever). Get a statistically significant sample of people who don't own a smart phone (they have to at least know a phone number). Have them make a phone call on each phone. Any bets on which phone wins the connected call race? If you're serious about photo quality, get a real camera. Serious about watching movies, get a big TV. To be the "Smartest" a "Phone" must be the easiest to use as a phone, doncha think? " <P> <strong>TechnologEase <a href= "http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328307772">writes</a>: </strong>" I don't know what the fuss is over 4G. For plugged in equipment, it may be fine, but... I've had 4G for almost a year now and it's not a deal breaker to have it or not have it. I live in a major metro area and I can only get it downtown AND... it destroys my battery life. So it's still practically worthless unless you are using on a 4G capable device in your home. Even in the iPhone, assuming even a better battery... until they can get power consumption handled, it doesn't really matter. I turn it on for specific downloads and it's off the rest of the time. A lot of these "high speed" protocols are worthless without better battery life or less power needed to run the said function. So it's a pointless debate anyway. Mine stays OFF." <P> <strong>DustinJamesTiberend <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/article_231900086/permalink/comment/328362699">writes</a>:</strong> "It's fascinating to me how hard it is for Apple fans to admit defeat. This article is hunched over on the last crutch that apple has left with the whole "lt's all about the ecosystem and the five hundred thousand million apps I can download." -- give me a break. The app wars were a gimmick two years ago and they are a gimmick now. The iPhone, simply put, is no longer state-of-the-art. I get the point that the article is trying to make -- different strokes for different folks -- but you do not choose between an M3 and an freak'n Mustang. you choose between an M3 and G37. The iPhone's survival as the single most-sold phone is the result of Apple's marketing and their completely anti-competitive/proprietary embracing policies that have locked their consumer base in with a passive penalty. What is that passive penalty you ask? That is the hundreds if not thousands of dollars that their consumer base has spent on apps and accessories that are not transferable. They will have to completely (with no exception) sacrifice them if they choose to jump ship. Apple seems to have forgotten (or i guess it's possible that they never really knew) that adaptation is just as important as innovation. The iPhone 4s is a shining example of this blindness. IMHO, the war has already been fought an won...Android has prevailed and Googlrola will only cement that fact. <P> It really just comes down to this, Android offers consumers a freedom that is totally unparalleled." <P> Got more to say on this debate? <a href=" http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/23190008">Join the conversation</a>. <P>2011-10-06T15:32:00ZHow did the genius of Apple CEO Steve Jobs affect you personally? InformationWeek.com readers shared their thoughts and tributes. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900232?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authorsWe asked <em>InformationWeek.com</em> readers to share your thoughts on Steve Jobs and how he changed not just your technology experiences, but your lives. Consider these tributes from <em>InformationWeek.com</em> readers, which hint at the personal connection that so many people feel with Apple and its products. <P> <strong>&#91; Read reflections on Steve Jobs from InformationWeek editors in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/mac/231900226">What Steve Jobs Taught Us</a>. &#93;</strong> <P> My enduring Apple memory is writing columns as a high school student, for my first paying newspaper job, on my amazing little Apple IIc. But when I think about the vision of Jobs, watching Pixar movies with my son ranks right up there. I never got to meet Steve Jobs, but I have loved helping chronicle Apple's story. Here's what you said: <P> <strong>-- Moonwatcher writes:</strong> "I think a true comparison would be to Thomas Edison, although Edison was even more of a giant in the number of inventions and in getting electricity usage started. Even so, in modern times, few can make the claim of having had such a profound effect on what millions of people do every day in their lives than Steve Jobs. RIP. <P> This quote is one of his best: "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." <P> <strong>-- Nonego writes:</strong> "Take care Mr Jobs and may you rest in peace. We love you and we will always remember you forever. Why iphone 4s? it's 'for Steve'. " <P> <strong>-- Will G. writes:</strong> "My first programming experience was on an Apple IIe and my first 3 personal computers were a used 1984 Macintosh, a Mac LC, and a Performa (630?). Though I "live" in the Windows world for the most part these days, our family has multiple iPhones and iPods. As for the 1984 Macintosh--it's still around--just being used as a bookend these days. I've still got a button from a trade show that says "Windows 3.0 = Macintosh 1984" or something like that. That says it all--Apple, because of Steve Jobs, was always an innovator. May he rest in peace and may Apple continue to innovate and challenge the rest of the industry to do the same. -Will G" <P> <strong>--JREYES000 writes:</strong> "His visions of tablets, laptops, phones, and music players are no-brainers. There are two more subtle, yet major impacts he had. First is in design--making something clean and simple and easy to use. The iPod had one wheel and a button yet did so much. That aesthetic is now seen everywhere. Second, is iTunes. It just seems like a store, but it's really changed the culture. It not only saved the music industry, but transformed how people get their entertainment--music, movies, videos, and now books." <P> <strong>-- Tom Lounibos, CEO of Soasta, writes:</strong> "By making technology "cool", he started an engineering revolution ... as everybody (including engineers) wanted to be cool!" <P> <strong>-- ANON1237925156805 writes:</strong> "In his resignation letter, Steve Jobs said that Apple's brightest days were ahead of it and that he looked forward to observing its success in a new role. I'm thinking that perhaps he knew what that new role would be. He just kept it a closely guarded secret until it was time for the announcement. And then, in typical Jobs fashion, he eclipsed all the other technological news that day. <P> No one is irreplaceable, but Steve Jobs came as close to it as any one man can. Even those who found his singular style unappealing and/or became fixated on disliking Apple products for one reason or another surely recognize that just about every computing product they do use today is better today than it might otherwise have been in large measure because of Apple's constant innovations and calls to excellence to which the market has responded. App stores exist because Apple's App Store was created. Mp3 players exist because Apple got them out there. <P> This was a private, secretive man who nonetheless gave out his email freely and responded at random to correspondents from all over the world. Maybe that's why it feels as though we lost a friend as well as a unique talent who managed to live his entire live on the bleeding edge of change and innovation. <P> Texas now writes its own "history" books so I'm not laying odds there, but I'm fairly sure that he'll be in history books everywhere else in the developed world along with his friend and rival Bill Gates. A sentence, if not a paragraph. Not too shabby. <P> Rest well, Steve. You've earned it. "2011-10-06T11:07:00ZSalesforce CEO Benioff won't be stopped by Oracle CEO Ellison, as demonstrated by the Oracle OpenWorld keynote spat. Will Benioff's customers insist he stop the private cloud denial?http://www.informationweek.com/news/231900171?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> As the tech industry <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231900100">said goodbye to visionary innovator Steve Jobs</a> Wednesday, two other larger-than-life Silicon Valley personalities started a new public tiff. <P> At Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco Wednesday, Larry Ellison completed what <em>InformationWeek</em>'s Charles Babcock describes as a <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/231900110">180-degree turnaround</a> on cloud. Ellison announced that Oracle data centers will soon provide infrastructure as a service (IaaS) for customers who wish to develop Java applications or deploy the new Oracle Fusion applications in a public cloud setting. <P> Meanwhile, former Ellison protege Marc Benioff <a href="http://informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/software/231900085">staged a hastily arranged offsite "keynote" Wednesday</a> near the Moscone Center--after Larry Ellison unceremoniously dumped him from the Oracle Open World lineup, reportedly over a derogatory Facebook post. <P> Benioff made his case to his faithful, who had been gathered up in the street and via social media postings: Multi-tenant computing is "more reliable, more secure, and more available. It's the future. Single tenancy goes hand-in-hand with selling proprietary mainframes," Benioff said. As Babcock notes "In case anyone was wondering what he meant, he also referred to Oracle "<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231700233">Exadata</a> mainframes." <P> At the same time Wednesday, cloud luminaries gathered at Interop New York debated Benioff's self-proclaimed nemesis, the private cloud. Salesforce's party line, of course, continues to be "beware the false cloud." Or as Peter Coffee, Salesforce's director of platform research, put it to an Interop panel Wednesday, buying into private cloud equals buying into "wildly over provisioned capacity that's rarely used." <P> I understand why Salesforce continues to push this "private cloud is a false cloud" line, but I don't agree--and I'm wondering when Benioff's customers will start to tire of it. Too many innovative enterprise CIOs have already invested too much time and energy in the private cloud model--and reaped too many rewards--for us to be still debating whether a private cloud is really a cloud at all. <P> Does Marc Benioff really want to tell CIOs like FedEx's Rob Carter--who recently shared <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/cloud-computing/infrastructure/231601259">how he has overhauled his vision for data centers, featuring private cloud</a>--that private cloud is a crazy strategy? Carter, by the way, made a point of telling attendees at our recent <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/500"><em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference</a> that he likes that when he looks at Salesforce data centers, he sees data centers that look very much like his own. But for now, his cloud road is private. <P> Of the many enterprise CIOs at our recent <em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference with whom I talked cloud, almost all of them using cloud use a mixed private and public cloud model. Not one told me private cloud was bunk. <P> That's one reason why it's always intriguing to hear both sides for and against the use of the private cloud model go at it, as they did in the Wednesday Interop panel "Great Debate: Will We Always Have Private Clouds?," moderated by Alistair Croll, founder of Bitcurrent. <P> "Private cloud is an oxymoron," declared Peter Magnusson, engineering director for Google. "It's just another word for on-premise system or mainframe or servers. That's not a cloud." Clouds are at their essence multi-tenant, ideally massively multi-tenant, Magnusson said. <P> "Microsoft themselves see their private cloud offering as a transition step," Coffee said, referencing <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/231900051">Microsoft's Tuesday Interop keynote,</a> in which the company told attendees private cloud will be 10 times more expensive than public. "It's not a plan," Coffee said. "It's just a stage." <P> Ian Rae, CEO of CloudOps, fought for the opposite point of view: "Our colleagues are trying to argue the public cloud can do anything," he said. "There's going to be certain workloads which just don't make sense." The debate, Rae said, "should be about what is the right balance," between public and private cloud in your enterprise. <P> Exactly. <P> At what point does Benioff denying private cloud start to sound like Microsoft denying Google Apps? <P> Croll asked the Interop panelists, "How long until we think of private clouds as mainframes: old, evil and hiding in the basement?" <P> My bet is, it's going to be quite a while. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <em>Attend Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara, Nov. 14-17, 2011, and learn how to drive business value with collaboration, with an emphasis on how real customers are using social software to enable more productive workforces and to be more responsive and engaged with customers and business partners. Register today and save 30% off conference passes, or get a free expo pass with priority code CPHCES02. <a href="http://www.e2conf.com/santaclara/?_mc=CPHCES02">Find out more and register.</a> </em>2011-10-03T11:59:00ZTuesday, the secrets will finally be out. But for today, you still get to enjoy iPhone 5 rumor madness.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231700097?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> All that's missing now is a faked photo of the iPhone 6--prototypes left in a bar are becoming very last month. Yes, I said iPhone 6. Wouldn&#8217;t it be fun to skip ahead a whole generation on the iPhone rumor watch, now that we're just a day from Apple finally revealing the details on iPhone 5? Well, we think this will be the iPhone 5, but it may actually be called the 4-something. Or, there may be two phones announced tomorrow. As <em>InformationWeek's</em> Eric Zeman reports, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/231700010">iPhone madness has reached new heights</a>. <P> "A recent poll shows that 41% of current smartphone owners are considering the iPhone 5 for their next device--even though the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/231602124">respondents know nothing</a> about the device yet," Zeman writes. <P> So, what <em>are</em> you likely to see at Tuesday's announcement? Zeman's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/smart-phones/231700010">betting on a larger display and faster processor</a>, for starters. <P> As for the design, Zeman expects that this iPhone will be thinner than the iPhone 4, use a tear-drop shape, and skip the glass back that made phone-droppers even more nervous. As the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> wrote on Monday, it's getting <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203791904576606891661918466.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories">harder for Apple</a> to find ways to be truly "out there" with design, as its rivals catch up. <P> Watch these three other tidbits, generating their fair share of speculation: <P> <strong>-- A cheaper iPhone 4?</strong> <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5845797/gizmodo-exclusive-looks-like-there-will-be-a-cheaper-iphone-4-made-in-brazillse">Gizmodo posted some photos from a Foxconn factory in Brazil over the weekend</a> that supposedly show a less expensive iPhone 4 in the works. <P> Apple Insider sees <a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/10/01/apple_leaks_iphone_4s_product_name_in_latest_itunes_beta.html">evidence in the latest iTunes beta</a> for the existence of a less expensive iPhone 4S model, while Macrumors has a peek at <a href="http://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/29/iphone-5-silicone-sleeves-already-arriving-at-att-retail-stores/">pre-shipped cases</a>. <P> <strong>-- Voice navigation?</strong> Macworld is downplaying the notion of multiple phones being announced tomorrow but it is talking about the <a href="http://www.macworld.com/article/162541/2011/09/what_apple_might_announce_at_next_weeks_iphone_event.html?lsrc=top_1">possibility of real voice commands</a>. <P> <strong>-- R.I.P. iPod?</strong> Finally, Ars Technica is not the only outlet speculating that tomorrow <a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/why-apple-is-ready-to-kill-off-the-ipod-classic.ars">may be the end of the line</a> for your old iPod. <P> And if you're Appled-out, see our <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231602498">expert analysis</a> of what IT pros want from Oracle at its Open World confab in San Francisco this week, where the <a href=http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/enterprise_apps/231700046>Exadata analytics appliance debuted Sunday night</a>. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <i>Attend Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara, Nov. 14-17, 2011, and learn how to drive business value with collaboration, with an emphasis on how real customers are using social software to enable more productive workforces and to be more responsive and engaged with customers and business partners. Register today and save 30% off conference passes, or get a free expo pass with priority code CPHCES02. <a href="http://www.e2conf.com/santaclara/?_mc=CPHCES02">Find out more and register.</a> </i> <P>2011-09-30T12:02:00ZAs Amazon grabs the tablet spotlight, RIM's failing product and marketing strategy makes some CIOs lose the faith. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231602480?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> The new and old faces of mobile computing collided on our site this week. <P> Amazon debuted a splashy new consumer tablet that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231602355">prompted enterprise IT to race to ask security questions</a>, before the device walked through the front door. RIM, meanwhile, heard growing doubt from enterprise IT about its ability to keep up with its mobile rivals. <P> Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet comes with a new Web browser, Silk, that splits computing duties between the device and Amazon's EC2 cloud. One consequence, as <em>InformationWeek's</em> Thomas Claburn reports, is that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/privacy/231602422">Amazon has a record</a> of where you travel on the Web. <P> The company says that it will use the information not only to speed your visits to frequently visited pages, but also (of course) to enhance their business intelligence-based picture of you as an Amazon customer. <P> Amazon hasn't specified exactly what data it retains, or in what cases it will keep the data for longer than 30 days, Claburn reports. <P> Is it a privacy compromise you're willing to make on your personal Kindle Fire device? As <em>InformationWeek</em> contributing editor Jim Rapoza commented on Tom's story, "I'm almost less concerned with this then I am with how my ISP can track surfing data. I'm pretty sure I know how Amazon will use this data (to improve their own capability to sell stuff). With the ISPs, I'm less sure how they are using data and more concerned about what they are doing with it." <P> Of course, many enterprise RIM BlackBerry users already face a similar scenario, Claburn points out, since like Silk, BlackBerry Enterprise Server acts as an intermediary between the user and the Internet. Users of enterprise BlackBerry devices already operate under the assumption that Web surfing data is tracked. <P> Speaking of RIM, the news around the company continues to darken. Thursday, RIM had to <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231602408">quash a rumor</a> (fueled by analyst speculation) that it was halting production of the ill-fated PlayBook tablet. <P> Our "Secret CIO" columnist, John McGreavey, has created quite a conversation around <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231602391">"RIM: What's Going On?</a>" He argues that RIM has fallen so far behind the mobile pack that a CIO must now worry that users will laugh at him for RIM allegiance. <P> And based on the story comments, it seems he's not the only CIO who's losing his BlackBerry religion--despite RIM's long hold on enterprise IT, and long history with mobile security and management. <P> As one of my Twitter followers noted yesterday, "If CIOs lose the BlackBerry religion: Uh-oh." <P> Some of our readers are debating the right steps for RIM to take to recover from its current slump. But others have already moved on. Consider this comment on the story: <P> <em>"RIM is done. It's only a matter of time. No innovation and resting on yesteryear's laurels will sink any tech company. They refused to take the iPhone and now Android seriously."</em> <P> Finally, speaking of reader comments, we've <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/digital-content/231602475">rolled out a new commenting system</a> here at <em>InformationWeek.com</em>. As community manager Tom LaSusa notes, the old one was, well, the stuff of horror movies. I hope you'll accept our sincere apology for the old system--and join the conversation on our site again. I look forward to hearing from you. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em>2011-09-26T11:20:00ZTake a sneak peek at what we know about Amazon's soon-to-be-revealed tablet. Plus, get expert advice for your mobile application strategy. http://www.informationweek.com/news/231602126?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Amazon--as you have heard, unless you've been off in the middle of the ocean trying to track the descent of a NASA satellite--will unveil its long-awaited tablet on Wednesday. "Why would anyone want an Amazon tablet, when Apple iTunes works so well?" a friend asked me this weekend. If you already have an iPad, that's a natural reaction. But, what about all the people who haven't bought a tablet yet? Remember the lines of people looking to get a $99 firesale HP TouchPad? Amazon aims to win over those people--and begin selling them tons of content. <P> What does Amazon have to offer? Take a look at Eric Zeman's tour of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/personal-tech/tablets/231602084">5 things we know about the Amazon Kindle tablet</a>. Perhaps most importantly, this tablet should be a lot less expensive than the cheapest $499 iPad--some reports have the gadget priced at $250; others guess that Amazon could dip below $200. <P> But make no mistake, this Android-based tablet is a content-selling vehicle, not a thing of beauty. This tablet will make compromises on processing power and screen size; it will not rival iPad on a design level. Yet it will walk in the enterprise door, just as the iPad did, before and after the holiday shopping season. <P> As one IT pro told me at the recent <em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference, "I started supporting the iPad when my boss was given one as a present." <P> Ho, ho, ho. Your elves are hard at work on enterprise mobile security strategy, right? <P> Many of you have decided to outsource some of your mobile application development. Whether you're developing in-house or sending the work out, you need a master plan to deploy and support those apps. Consider the expert advice from mobile security guru Michael Davis in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231602022">Take Charge Of Your Mobile App Strategy</a>. <P> Davis also takes an intriguing look at the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/mobile/231601996">dangerous intersection of mobility and credit cards</a>. Check out why he thinks Facebook credits could be the best thing to happen to money launderers in a long time. <P> Finally, did you catch Charles Babcock's look at the startup software that lets you <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/soa_webservices/231601915">control your data center servers from your iPhone</a>, via a cloud service? <P> Now there's something you can't do with an Amazon tablet. Yet. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <em>Attend Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara, Nov. 14-17, 2011, and learn how to drive business value with collaboration, with an emphasis on how real customers are using social software to enable more productive workforces and to be more responsive and engaged with customers and business partners. Register today and save 30% off conference passes, or get a free expo pass with priority code CPHCES02. <a href="http://www.e2conf.com/santaclara/?_mc=CPHCES02">Find out more and register.</a> </em> <P>2011-09-22T10:31:00ZThere's no truth to the rumor that a prototype of the next Facebook was left at a bar in Cambridge last night.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231601954?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> Poor Zuck. Those friends of his are getting snarky. Facebook users all over the Web decried his team's latest round of interface "enhancements," which most people saw Wednesday morning. As <em>InformationWeek's</em> Tom LaSusa put it in a spot-on column, it's like artificial intelligence, or <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/thebrainyard/news/social_networking_consumer/231601846/what-facebook-should-learn-from-george-lucas">perhaps the dark side's imperial guard,</a> now decides what you want to see most in your Facebook news feed. <P> Thursday, Facebook kicks off its annual F8 conference for developers; look for coverage from <em>InformationWeek.com's</em> Thomas Claburn. Speculation centers on last year's "like" button being joined by a new "listen" button having to do with new music partners, and perhaps a new iPad app. <P> It's been a heavy news week, what with HP CEO Leo Apotherker's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231601911">job on the line</a>, the SSL protocol (crucial to Web communications) <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/vulnerabilities/231601759">facing new security threats</a> and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/government/policy/231601905">Google defending itself before a Senate panel</a> on antitrust issues. <P> So let's lighten up, and take a look at 10 things Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will not tell developers today: <P> 10."We're betting our tablet strategy on Windows 8." <P> 9. "I just hope those HP board members understand Facebook's latest round of privacy changes." <P> 8. "I am rolling out a new iPad app--in collaboration with The Gap: Sign up now and get a limited edition hoodie." <P> 7. "Google got grilled by senators yesterday for wanting to rule the world? Better them than me." <P> 6. "I met the president earlier this year, you know." <P> 5. "I Heard Google+ is the official social network of <em>Dancing With the Stars</em>." <P> 4. "Yes, I did make the top 20 on the Forbes 400 List of Richest Americans this week. I'm setting aside 5% of next year's profits to the hair stylist who can do something with this mop of mine." <P> 3. "Those guys in Greece with the bad economy? That's what happens when you turn all your settings to "friends only" so no one can capitalize on your data." <P> 2." There's no truth to the rumor that a prototype of the next Facebook was left at a bar in Cambridge last night." <P> 1. "You all heard my sister, Randi, has left the company. I'm delighted to announce I'm replacing her with not one but two great minds: The Winklevoss twins!" <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <i>See the latest IT solutions at Interop New York. Learn to leverage business technology innovations--including cloud, virtualization, security, mobility, and data center advances--that cut costs, increase productivity, and drive business value. Save 25% on Flex and Conference Passes or get a Free Expo Pass with code CPFHNY25. It happens in New York City, Oct. 3-7, 2011. <a href="http://www.interop.com/newyork/?_mc=CPFHNY25">Register now</a>. </i>2011-09-19T11:40:00ZMr. Schmidt prepares to go to Washington, while Microsoft fights to prove it can still be relevant in the tablet market.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231601666?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE -->For once, tech news will not be all iPhone all the time this week. Because when Google's chairman, Eric Schmidt, prepares to testify before a Senate antitrust panel, Silicon Valley listens. <P> "Though the company and the times are different, there are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/technology/googles-to-face-congressional-antitrust-hearing.html?_r=1&ref=technology">echoes of a hearing before the same Senate body</a>, the Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, 13 years ago and the last sweeping antitrust investigation of an American technology powerhouse, Microsoft," wrote Steve Lohr and Claire Cain Miller in <em>The New York Times</em>. <P> "Today Google, like Microsoft then, is both admired and feared," said Lohr and Miller. <P> As we enter the age where smartphones and tablets are more important than PCs, Google's market power, from search to apps, is undeniable. While Microsoft busily tries to convince developers that <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/operatingsystems/231601529">Windows 8 means it's back in the tablet race</a>, Google races ahead with Android and Chrome. <P> <strong>&#91;Stumped for creative solutions to vexing IT problems? Find some fresh ideas in <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/galleries/global-cio/interviews/231600980?itc=edit_in_body_cross">20 Innovative IT Ideas To Steal</a>.&#93;</strong> <P> Late last week, Richard Scoble and the <em>Wall Street Journal's</em> Kara Swisher both wrote of a Google competitor to the Flipboard app to run on Android tablets and the iPad. <P> Can Google out-Flipboard the most innovative news app on the iPad? That sounds pretty tough to me, but we shall see. <P> While Mr. Schmidt goes to Washington this week, his team will roll out mobile payment system Google Wallet and a few other interesting surprises. (Stay tuned to <em>InformationWeek.com</em> for more details.) <P> Microsoft fell behind on what its customers wanted from mobile, but Google never did. <P> Are you, as an IT leader, asking what your end user needs from you? At the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/500">InformationWeek 500</a> conference last week, San Francisco Giants CIO Bill Schlough told his fellow attendees that he had to give baseball fans more of what they got at home already. "Our competition is the couch," Schlough said. <P> "Delivering Wi-Fi and encouraging fans to use their portable devices at the park is one way Schlough's using IT to attract customers," wrote <em>InformationWeek's</em> Chris Murphy. Check out Schlough's advice, one of <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231601591">9 killer insights for CIOs</a>, fresh from the conference. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <i>See the latest IT solutions at Interop New York. Learn to leverage business technology innovations--including cloud, virtualization, security, mobility, and data center advances--that cut costs, increase productivity, and drive business value. Save 25% on Flex and Conference Passes or get a Free Expo Pass with code CPFHNY25. It happens in New York City, Oct. 3-7, 2011. <a href="http://www.interop.com/newyork/?_mc=CPFHNY25">Register now</a>. </i>2011-09-15T12:08:00ZIT leaders at the InformationWeek 500 conference talked talent, trust--and the new world where the CEO wants six new iPad 2 units on release day.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231601496?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_authors<!-- KINDLE EXCLUDE --> <div class="inlineStoryImage inlineStoryImageLeft"> <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/graphics_library/misc/IWHowHot_175.jpg" alt="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" title="InformationWeek Now--What's Hot Right Now" class="img175" /> </div> <!-- /KINDLE EXCLUDE --> At the start of the <em>InformationWeek 500</em> conference this week, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231601311">HP Chairman Ray Lane</a> was asked, what is the single biggest issue CIOs face today? His answer was immediate. "Talent." Everyone wants the best people--many even brag that they have the best people, he said. "But everyone can&#8217;t have the best people, by definition," he added, getting an empathetic groan from all the CIOs in the audience. When I started covering CIOs closely in July, 2006, I went to a conference and asked CIOs what was keeping them up at night: Almost to a one, they told me it wasn't technology, it was people. Then, IT org charts were just starting to morph due to virtualization. <P> Today, you face a new wave of people problems, related to not only IT staffing, but also consumerization of IT. <P> First, there's still the problem of holding onto talented people in specialties such as storage, as Evelyn Briggs, director of security and compliance for Christus Health, told me over lunch at the <em>IW 500</em> conference. One of her solutions? Her whole IT team is virtual. This lets her recruit talent outside of her local market in Beaumont, Texas, but means she has to ensure that everyone is on the same page and on schedule. She's done the security audit work so that her company can run production apps for a healthcare organization in a hybrid cloud environment--no small matter. But people problems rank at the top of her mind. <P> Then you must wrestle with the new people problems related to <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231600919">consumer IT</a>. Abha Kumar, a principal in the IT division for Vanguard, faces all the regulatory and compliance issues that come along with the financial industry. She has allowed tablets in, with many ground rules, including the understanding that the device can be wiped if lost. But even when you push through all the governance issues, she says, "You'll never have 100% control. You'll need trust." As an IT leader at Vanguard, she has to build a culture of trust with users. <P> Her company also had to solve the problem of what Vanguard calls "weisure time." Vanguard's culture expects employees to check email from vacation, so the question became, she said, shouldn't the same employees be allowed to conduct certain personal business from work? In her highly-regulated industry, that's hard for IT to facilitate. One solution: Employees have access to the public Internet via terminals in Vanguard's dining commons area, where they can get to personal business that they need to conduct. Those computers are run by Sodexho, Vanguard's dining hall partner, and live on a completely separate network from Vanguard's. <P> <strong>&#91;Want more lessons learned from InformationWeek 500 winners? See <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231600980">20 Innovative IT Ideas To Steal</a>.&#93;</strong> <P> Finally, consider this consumer IT story--that left me shaking my head at Apple--from another IT leader who I met over lunch at <em>InformationWeek 500</em>. The CEO of his large enterprise told IT that he wanted six new iPad 2 devices on the day of release, said this veteran IT leader. The devices weren't for a specific project; they were status items. When was the last time we wanted <em>anything</em> on the day of release, he thought to himself, he told me. <P> Nonetheless, he visited his local Apple store, to make a deal with the manager, to get six units on the day of release. He was told to send three people with three different credit cards. <P> When release day came, the store manager began calling him, telling him Apple had changed the rules. After a few calls, it became clear he'd only get two units this day. <P> Five years ago, can you imagine prepping yourself to inform the CEO that you couldn&#8217;t get him six Apple devices on a certain day? <P> The other CIOs at the table groaned at the story. Apple keeps telling me it wants to be enterprise-friendly, another chimed in, but it won&#8217;t show me a roadmap. That's not enterprise-friendly, he said. Apple has its own people problem with enterprise IT leaders--and I wonder when it will bite back. <P> Paul DePodesta, VP of player development and scouting for the New York Mets, hooked attendees with his description of the Oakland A's talent comeback that he led--chronicled in the Michael Lewis book, "Moneyball: the Art of Winning An Unfair Game", soon be released as a movie. <P> "We tried a lot of things and we tried them fast," DePodesta told the audience. "We made sure people weren't afraid to fail." Check out DePodesta's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/bi/231601363">tips on creating metrics about talent</a>. <P> Are you creating that kind of culture inside your IT organization? If not, consider this advice on <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/global-cio/interviews/231601425">six steps to keep your projects moving</a>, from Jonathan Feldman, an IT leader by day and an <em>InformationWeek</em> columnist by night. One secret: Tapping into each staffer's intrinsic motivation. <P> <em>Laurianne McLaughlin is editor-in-chief for InformationWeek.com. Follow her on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/lmclaughlin">@lmclaughlin</a>.</em> <P> <em>Attend Enterprise 2.0 Santa Clara, Nov. 14-17, 2011, and learn how to drive business value with collaboration, with an emphasis on how real customers are using social software to enable more productive workforces and to be more responsive and engaged with customers and business partners. Register today and save 30% off conference passes, or get a free expo pass with priority code CPHCES02. <a href="http://www.e2conf.com/santaclara/?_mc=CPHCES02">Find out more and register.</a> </em>