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Apple Users Talking Class-Action Lawsuit Over iPhone Locking
You bought the iPhone, you paid for it, but now Apple is telling you how you have to use it, and if you don't do things the way they say, they're going to lock it. Turn it into a useless "brick." Is this any way to treat a customer? Apparently, it's the Steve Jobs way. But some iPhone users are mad as heck, and they're not going to take it anymore.
Running A Business Is Essential Experience For A CIO
If you want to excel as a tech exec, go out and run a business -- or get your place of employment to put you in charge of one.
Driver Problems Prove Windows Vista Still Isn't Fully Baked
I'm a music guy, and enjoy listening to tunes on my PC. So when the high-definition audio all of a sudden stopped working on my Vista machine, it was a big problem. Unfortunately, my investigation found that my issue was just o
EU Dogs Microsoft, But To What End?
Europe's competition authorities have finally won their long-fought legal victory over Microsoft. Problem is, their constituents -- outside the continent's intellectual salons -- could hardly care less.
Halo 3 Record Launch Seen Through Gamers' Eyes
Unless you're living under a virtual rock, you know that Microsoft's new Halo 3 game for Xbox 360 is smashing all previous sales records, pulling in $170 million on its first day. But if you're like me -- older than 14 -- you're curious as to what all the fuss is about, but have no interest in buying the thing. OK, then let's go to the videotape... .
CIO Wake-Up Call: Consumers Are Turning To Online Apps
And if consumers use them, workers will want to use them, too. CIOs better prepare now for the coming wave of online-oriented employees.
Software Brands Need To Stand For Something
When it comes to software industry innovation, what does the CIO of one of the world's best-known brands -- Disney -- look for? Well, a meaningful brand.
Using Google's Fix-It-As-We-Go Beta Approach-For ERP
Arizona State Unversity's technology officer, Adrian Sannier, is at it again. First, he embraced Google e-mail and applications for students and staff on a massive scale. Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting he tried a variation of Google's fix-as-we-go public beta approach to software with the university's ERP system, with sometimes painful results.
The ROI Of SOA: Get It Right!
In which this reporter is taken to task for exaggerating (negatively) the claims in a research report about the return on investment for service-oriented architecture. Thirty-seven percent is not nothing!
In Debate Over Desktop Linux, It All Comes Down To Money
My article 7 Reasons Why Linux Won't Succeed On The Desktop jump-started anew the debate over why the open-source operating system hasn't made significant inroads on the client side into Windows' user base. The real reason, it seems, is something much more basic than confusion about Linux distros, annoying fanboys turning off potential adoptees, or
George Glass: Customer-Centric Services Lead To SOA Success
I had the chance recently to talk with George Glass, chief architect of the British telecommunications company BT, about its massive SOA conversion. I asked him how he kept the services being created aligned with a rapidly changing business. The question was simple ... but the answer wasn't.
Larry Ellison's Future View: Oracle's Strategy Versus SAP's
Attention all enterprise apps buyers!! Oracle execs last week discussed their 1Q results, and Larry Ellison took the opportunity to contrast his company's approach to enterprise apps versus SAP's approach. Ellison said the strategies are profoundly different -- and buyers should certainly take note.
Forget The Table, How About A Seat On The Board?
With their insights into process, innovation, and technology, CIOs should be better represented on companies' boards. So why aren't they?
Why Tech Jobs May Fare Better In A Recession This Time
Why sweat a recession? Because three-fourths of economists say there's a 30% chance or higher chance the U.S. economy will slip into recession, the Wall Street Journal reports , citing its poll of 52 economists. The economists overall peg the recession risk at 36%, up from 28% a month ago.
Google: A Virtual Video Headquarters Tour
Segways, exercise rooms, video arcade games, a gourmet cafeteria. Did you die, or perhaps move to some Western European welfare state? No, you're just an average "Googly" person, who's got the smarts -- and, apparently, the youth -- to work for the search-engine giant. See all this stuff and more on the quick video tour I've put together.
Contractors Are A Security Threat -- Both Active And Passive
CIOs have to rely on outside contractors for some IT jobs -- I don't know any who don't use at least a few. And the security problems third parties represent are well documented. But whatever happened to plain, old competence?
Selling Technology: What Appeals To Customers?
Software vendor Tibco has commissioned a video series (sans Tibco branding) called Greg The Architect, a hilarious spoof of business technology organizations that's aimed at the software architect.
Customer Contact Reduction: What's Wrong With This Picture?
Questionable Move Of The Week: Wal-Mart has a program called "Customer Contact Reduction," according to The New York Times. If ever there was a self-fulfilling prophecy, that sounds like it.
5 Cool Google Tools You Should Know About
Google is so vast that it's hard to keep up. But it's not just search, or even the new Web-based apps, which is extending the tentacles of the search-engine giant into territory beyond the reach of Microsoft. Here are 5 lesser-known but nevertheless interesting Google tools, code snippets, and professional tech training materials.
In The Outsourcing Shuffle, Offshoring's Still Winning
Some of the more intriguing data points about the InformationWeek 500 concern how many companies are doing offshore outsourcing and using H-1B visas. It suggests the outsourcing shuffle-companies sending work out, others hauling it back in-continues. But while one in five companies have pulled outsourced work back in-house the past year, that hasn't dimmed interest in global IT.
Who's The Top Technology Dog: CIO Or CTO?
It was one of those heated hallway discussions: What's the role of the CTO, and how is it different from that of the CIO? And who's at the top of the technology pecking order?
Getting Advice From The Brazen Careerist
Journalists come from motley backgrounds. But I don't think we've ever had anyone writing for us before who played professional beach volleyball. Penelope Trunk has. She's also been a software executive, founded two companies, has been through an IPO, an acquisition, and bankruptcy, wrote a book, and been a professional columnist. Having had so many careers on her own, it makes sense that she specializes in giving career advice.
Larry Ellison Says No To SaaS
Larry Ellison told financial analysts in a quarterly earnings call yesterday that Oracle hasn't participated in the software-as-a-service trend because there's no money to be made there. If Ellison's observation isn't a red flag to CIOs, than I don't know what is.
Living Life, Facing Death, And Achieving Your Childhood Dreams
Randy Pausch is a world-renowned computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon and cofounder of the school's Entertainment Technology Center, and in a matter of months he will be dead from the ravages of pancreatic cancer. In his last lecture to the CMU community, the charismatic 46-year-old shared his thoughts on the unshakeable power of imagination, will, and childhood dreams.
Sparks Fly As Linux Kernel Guy Quits In A Huff
There's another item to add to my list of 7 Reasons Why Linux Won't Succeed On The Desktop. An Australian doctor who spent his spare time working on the kernel says desktop performance is suffering because Linus Torvalds and company are only concerned about enterprise users. He got so ticked off he quit Linux in a huff, and made some pointed comments about Linus.
The ROI of Acronyms
One of business's favorite acronyms is ROI; one of the technology industry's is SOA. Put them together and what do you get?
Are You Aggressive In Skills Assessment?
CIOs need to work on their softer sides -- identifying and nurturing IT skills and talent.
Intel, AMD Telegraph Increased Importance Of Graphics Processing Engines
Intel CEO Paul Otellini touched all the obvious buttons in his keynote at the chipmaker's Developer Forum in San Francisco, emphasizing the rush toward more cores and smaller (read: 45-nm and 32-nm) process technology. However, a deeper analysis of the news out of IDF indicates that there's one trend no one is talking about.
IBM Sees Enterprise 2.0 As The Perfect Chance For Revenge Against Microsoft
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. And in the case of Enteprise 2.0, it looks like IBM hopes to serve Microsoft a chilled plate of ice.
Google Is Still More Of A Threat To Madison Avenue Than To Microsoft
Despite all the techie hoopla surrounding Google's launch of a PowerPoint-like application this week, Google is still a much bigger threat to those who make their money in advertising than it is to Microsoft.
Wall Street Tech Elite Are Gonna Take Supercomputing To IT Main Street
What's in a supercomputer? Twenty years ago, the fastest machines in the world were specialty architectures designed by quirky geniuses like Seymour Cray. Today, the field's name has changed -- it's called HPC, for high-performance computing -- but it's still where the action is. That was definitely the deal Monday at the Hi
IW 500: Virtualizing Servers Is A High Wire Balancing Act
Virtualization is well under way at some shops, just getting started at others. The goal is primarily server consolidation, but many fringe benefits follow.
Where The CIO Of The Year Spends His Time
Dan Drawbaugh's focus on growth, new opportunities, and strategic vision exemplifies the new role of the CIO.
Workday Lands 26,000-Employee Deal For On-Demand ERP
Think ERP-by-subscription's only for little companies? Workday has signed the 26,000-employee Chiquita Brands to use its on-demand human resources apps, Workday president and co-founder Aneel Bhusri said at the InformationWeek 500 conference this week.
IT Still Grappling With Mobile Device Management
Welcome back to Take 5, our regular feature where we ask an industry insider five questions about their company and the mobile business market as a whole. This week we turn the spotlight back on mobile device management, a topic we've blogged about before on Over The Air
Should The Security Chief Report To Someone Outside IT?
McAfee CEO David DeWalt sees more companies are having the chief information security officer report to someone other than the CIO. The reasoning is security involves much more than data security-and that IT needs a watchdog over its attempts to secure information.
What's The Definition Of Innovation?
CIOs don't have to be idea people. They have to make ideas work.
Health Care CIOs Warn Of Hurdles To Electronic Records
Electronic patient records promise big savings in health care, but two CIOs at the InformationWeek 500 Conference warned today that "IT is not the answer to every business problem" in health care.
Three To-Do Lists For Building An Innovative IT Department
Big-business IT departments have their eyes on the ground, focused on day-to-day issues of keeping the business running. That leaves CIOs locked out of the room when CEOs are deciding the direction of the company. To get a seat at the table, CIOs and IT managers need to transform their organizations to focus on innovation. Management consultant Ram Charan described what IT managers need to do to make the change.
Redmond Is Blog City
Are CIOs on top of all the blogs and wikis in their organizations? Microsoft's CIO says he is.
Who's That Girl In The iPod Commercial?
The new iPods may look kind of squat and funny -- a site that's sprung up to cover them is called FattyNano -- but the music emanating from Apple's latest commercial was so captivating, I had to find out who the singer was.
My Big Fat Quad-Core Video And Podcast Show
Interested in the latest quad-core processor news from Intel and AMD, but too tired to read about it? Then kick back and listen to two podcasts with heavy hitters from the respective semiconductor powerhouses, and watch a short (non-blurry) video where I opine on whether you really need four cores on your desktop.
Just How Fair Is The Fair Use Campaign?
In a classic case of "my industry is bigger and more important than yours," the Computer and Communications Industry Association is campaigning to prop up the "fair use" exceptions to U.S. copyright laws, calling them "the cornerstones for creativity, innovation, and… an engine for growth for our country."
Cell Phones Are Ticket To Business Success In India
The next time someone asks you about the potential ROI on a cell phone, remember this post. According to a report in BusinessWeek, cell phones are becoming the ticket to success (and out of poverty) in developing markets like India.
Indiana Wants Me, Part 2
CIOs are definitely interested in the potential for Web 2.0 technology. SRO tells me so.
Walgreens Ex-CEO: Most Future Changes "Will Be Driven By Technology"
Recently retired CEO David Bernauer -- who spent four years as CIO -- supplies a great answer to his own question: "Why is it so important to understand that technology will drive the biggest changes in our profession?"
Career Moves: Will The Non-Profit Route Pay Off?
And should CIOs help out non-profit organizations by contributing time or talent? Because non-profits desperately need the efficiencies IT can bring.
Indiana Wants Me: A Day At A CIO Symposium
Are CIO special interest groups worth the time? They are if they deliver the goods.
Language Translation Tries To Keep Up With Global Business
I had two separate conversations this week that hint at how companies will more and more use computerized translation as a tool for global business.
World-Class IT Org, Or Outsourcing Fodder?
How does the world -- your internal customers, your company's paying customers, your various supplier customers -- view your IT organization? As a can-do partner and service provider? Or as a chronic naysayer and excuse maker? The answer to this simple question will tell you whether you have the stuff of a world-class organization or are outsourcing fodder.
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The State of Cloud Computing - Fall 2020
Download this report to compare how cloud usage and spending patterns have changed in 2020, and how respondents think they'll evolve over the next two years.
2021 Top Enterprise IT TrendsWe've identified the key trends that are poised to impact the IT landscape in 2021. Find out why they're important and how they will affect you.
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