Special Report
Are you ready for big data? Do you even know what it is? Consumers now create and consume extraordinary amounts of data. Hundreds of millions of mobile phones weave infinite tapestries of data, in real time. Each purchase, search, status update, and check-in layers our world with even more data. As such, the "Data Frame" was selected to be the underlying theme for Web 2.0 Summit 2011. InformationWeek will not only be bringing you the complete live stream of all of the Web 2.0 Summit sessions, we'll also be reporting on everything that's noteworthy from the Summit floor.
Interop NYC 2011: Keynote Schedule
The current time in San Francisco:
Ann Cavoukian, David Vladeck, Alexander Macgillivray
John Partridge, Dan Schulman, John Battelle
Research: The OS Mess
The help desk must be a miserable place to work these days. According to our InformationWeek Analytics operating system survey, nearly every company supports Windows, half officially support Apple devices and three in 10 support Linux or Android operating systems. Two-thirds of companies let employees connect their personal gadgets to the network with little or no guidance as to what they can use or whether IT is supposed to help them. If anything goes wrong, you know who gets the call. Welcome to the OS mess. (Free, registration required)
Are SaaS Productivity Apps Ready for Your Business?
In this report, we examine the SaaS productivity market, compare Google's and Microsoft's offerings, review the pros and cons of cloud-based messaging and collaboration services, and outline deployment scenarios. It's not necessary to fully embrace a browser-based existence to enjoy many of the cloud's benefits, and a mature service like email is a great place to start gaining experience with SaaS office services. (Free, registration required)
Social Media & IT at a Crossroads
Even as Google+ shakes up the landscape, we're seeing IT teams taking a hands-off attitude to their enterprises' social networking initiatives. That's exactly the wrong approach, if you want to keep your data safe and projects under control. We explain why and suggest some smart ways to get involved. (Free, registration required)
Research: Cloud Storage's Changing Dynamics
Our 2011 State of Enterprise Storage Survey showed a lot of caution around public storage services. Of course, the terms "cloud" and "storage" both cover a lot of ground. Long-term email archiving is a different beast from disaster recovery, which is different from application backup. And EMC is different from Joe's Cut-Rate Cloud. In this report, we'll discuss the results of that survey, evaluate where the cloud offers a viable alternative to on-premises storage-and where it doesn't-and explore our general lack of adoption of technologies that could tame the storage beast. (Free, registration required)
Buyer's Guide: Enterprise Social Networking Tools
Social networking tools can improve collaboration and productivity, but only if employees use them. While they mimic popular consumer platforms such as Facebook, enterprise social networking tools are designed for business. We provide guidance for picking the right product. (Free, registration required)