The Business Confidence Index reported by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has turned positive for the first time since its launch in June 2009, with more tech execs conveying an optimistic view of the economy than a pessimistic one. IT professionals from about 300 U.S.-based companies were surveyed.

The Global Language Monitor has released its list of "most confusing high tech buzzwords of the decade (2000-2009). Said GLM president Paul JJ Payack, "The words we use in high technology continue to become even more obtuse even as they move out of the realm of jargon and into the language at large." We hear you, man.

Coping with the tangle of viruses, worms, Trojan Horses and rootkits that infest today's IT environment is no simple task - and threats are growing more sophisticated every day. Here's a look at how malware has evolved and how it has changed the stakes for enterprises large and small.

A bright spot in the global IT job market: information security. A report from the professional organization (ISC)2 shows that companies still crave workers with IT security skills, and they're willing to pay a premium to get them. For its (ISC)2 2010 Career Impact Survey, the organization polled almost 3,000 security professionals. One less-happy finding: Many security pros say the downturn has increased security risks in their organization.

As the top semiconductor manufacturer and a key catalyst of the PC revolution, Intel has been in the public eye for four decades. How much do you know about the company that helped put the silicon in Silicon Valley? See also: Fast facts on Apple, Linux, Microsoft, Oracle, Google and HP.

Mass layoffs are common in every industry—including tech. Just in January, there were more than 1,750 official mass layoffs in the U.S. resulting in nearly 182,300 job losses. Here's how to bounce back quickly if this happens to you. See also: Keep from Getting Laid Off, Will Your Job Be Outsourced?

More than 350,000 tech jobs have been lost due to layoffs since August 2008. How can you avoid becoming a statistic? See also: How to Rebound from a Layoff, Will Your Job be Outsourced?

Etiquette may not be dead, but it's endangered. Even people who aren't downright rude can be heedless and self-involved -- and that can make for an uncomfortable workplace.

It's that time of year, the time when you realize you can't put off doing your taxes any longer. But since you've waited this long, you might as well pause to check out these money-saving tips.

Long before the iPad and the iPhone, Apple was remaking the computer industry and shaking up popular culture. Corporate power plays, personal drama, hits and misses at the cutting edge of technology design - all inform the vision that guides the company today. How much do you know about Apple? See also: Fast facts on Linux, Microsoft, Oracle, Google and HP. Also: Present Like Steve Jobs, AppStore v Innovation.

Forbes' list of the World's Most Powerful People has no surprises at the tippy-top, where large-country leaders like Obama, Hu, and Putin are clustered. But starting with number five, just after Ben Bernanke, come Google founders Page and Brin; Bill Gates is ahead of the Pope. The profusion of tech and telecom power-bases on the idiosyncratic 67-name list reflects IT's growing role in the broader culture. See also: Tech Stars in New Roles.

Security company Cenzic released at RSA their findings for the second half of 2009. Web app vulnerabilities are popping up throughout the enterprise as more organizations depend on insecure, quickly developed apps for Web 2.0 features and functionality. Cenzic did not rank the following apps by degree of danger. See also: 25 Dangerous Programming Errors, How to Stop SQL Injections.

Much chortling in the blogosphere over an unearthed Newsweek article from 1995 by Clifford Stoll, which trashed the idea of the internet as an "information superhighway" with broad uses. Titled "The Internet? Bah!," the article built on Stoll's book, Silicon Snake Oil. Here's a look at what he got wrong, and why. Short answer: he missed the rising tide of innovation enabled by the web.

Many CIOs report to CFOs, so it's important to understand what the financial types are thinking, and one thing they have on their minds is cloud computing. BDO's third annual Technology Survey of Chief Financial Officers, conducted in January, parsed the responses of 100 CFOs at major US tech companies.

The German email security firm eleven releases a bimonthly report on spam and malware, based on its analysis of a billion emails each day from 30,000 global installations. These numbers are from the the December 2009/January 2010 report. See also: Email Management Lags

The mobile phone market is changing drastically. After years of rapid growth, potential new customers are scarce, so efforts have shifted to getting subscribers to upgrade to smart phones, and to selling more services and accessories; meanwhile, companies want to hang onto existing customers for dear life. The annual North American Wireless Industry Survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers shows numerous growth possibilities without adding new customers.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas says the tight job market is pushing more people to embroider their resumes. In its 2009 Hiring Index, ADP reported that 46 percent of employment, education and/or credential reference checks conducted in 2008 revealed discrepancies. And there are many, many more out there that go undetected. Here's how the cheaters are doing it. See also: Write a Better Resume, How to Get Fired.

Apple's decision to remove sexy apps from the iPhone App Store has kicked up a furor -- and not just among people who want to look at nudie pics on the go. The real danger goes way beyond porn; as big brains like Jonathan Zittrain and Dave Winer have been saying for some time, too much control limits creativity and innovation.

The 2010 CWE/SANS list of most-dangerous programming errors ranks "widespread and critical programming errors that can lead to serious software vulnerabilities. They are often easy to find, and easy to exploit. They will frequently allow attackers to completely take over the software, steal data, or prevent the software from working at all." See also: How to Stop SQL Injections.

The upcoming Academy Awards should command interest among the IT crowd, even though the hardcore tech stuff is segregated from the big show. Movie buffs in the tech world will have a stake in the game when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out its iconic statuettes on March 7. See also: Tech in the Movies, How Hollywood Sees Geeks.

The most recent Foote Partners IT Skills and Certification Pay Index shows that while the value of many certifications drooped in the gloomy 2009 economy, some certifications still command a pay premium over the average IT base salary. The following 20 certifications are the top certifications by market growth over the last three months.

What's the impact of Gen Y on IT shops? Accenture Global Research on Millennials' Use of Technology says, "Companies intent on attaining high performance must accept and adapt to achieve the transformation potential this always-connected, instant-messaged generation can offer."

2009 saw yet another record increase in ID fraud among American adults, according to Javelin Research. Small business owners and Millennials seem to have been hit hardest among all demographics.

Jobs site TheLadders.com breaks down several common mistakes people make when writing their resumes. See also: How to Get Fired

It's one thing when companies spill your data by accident. But what about when they do it on purpose? Google's latest foray into social networking, Buzz, met with immediate criticism when it became clear that the service made public a user's most frequent email contacts. Not cool. Google quickly announced changes to the service, but the fact remains: companies that control user data have huge power, and are prone to misusing that power. Business users should be aware of the risks associated with these services.

Technology popularized by consumers is remaking the corporate IT shop. Smartphones, social networking, and blogs are among recent examples of this consumerization of the enterprise. Yet the trend has deep roots, extending to the early days of the personal computing era. More on this topic here.

Analysts with Pierre Audoin Consultants predict this year's global IT spending by verticals. PAC believes the hottest growth sectors for technology spending includes utilities, public sector and the telecom market.

The BDO Seidman 2010 Technology Outlook Survey examined the opinions of 100 chief financial officers at leading technology companies located throughout the United States. The survey was conducted in January of 2010, and included companies in the software, hardware, telecommunications, internet and information technology services sub-sectors. The companies surveyed had revenues up to $10 billion.

Workplaces romances can be costly and disruptive for an employer. They're also pretty much inevitable. Much of the information in this slideshow comes from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

The open source software turned 18 last year, and its maturity is evident to hackers and corporate types alike.See also: Fast facts on Microsoft, Oracle, Google and HP.

Many good workers have lost jobs because of downsizing in the Great Recession. But getting terminated for cause happens, too. Here are some of the leading ways to earn the ax. See also: Job-Killing References, Awful Co-Workers, Social Networking Without Tears.

Former Microsoft VP Dick Brass published an opinion article in the New York Times, arguing that the Redmond giant has become "a clumsy, uncompetitive innovator," with "a dysfunctional corporate culture in which the big established groups are allowed to prey upon emerging teams." The company, though hugely profitable, "is failing," he says. Here are some of Brass's key points. See also: 45 Fast Facts About Microsoft.

One sign that an industry has come of age is when its stars begin to shine in other areas of the culture. Technology titans have made that leap, first slowly, now in droves. Enriched by their business careers, emboldened by the sense of possibility that defines their industry, they are making their mark in a variety of fields -- and even traditional toys of the rich, like sports teams, feel different in their hands.

Technology has changed the way we watch football. For fans, the result has been a mix of wins and losses.

The impact of security incidents is increasing, according to the Ponemon Institute's Cost of Data Breach study, which highlights a survey sponsored by PGP. Ponemon found that the price tag for breaches will rise again this year, particularly when it came to the "ex-post" response necessary to make things right with irate customers once they'd been notified. See our article on the survey.

Applied Research West recently tallied up surveys from over 1,700 organizations of all sizes from around the world for Symantec's annual State of the Data Center report. Unsurprisingly, the biggest priorities within these organizational nerve centers focused on availability and reliability of data, and on cost-saving measures such as virtualization, cloud migration and consolidation.

CDW's Server Virtualization Life Cycle Report compiles results of a survey of nearly 400 IT managers, from companies with 100 or more employees, about server virtualization. The report showed that the vast majority of organizations are in some stage or another of implementing server virtualization, but even the best have room to improve.

IT leaders say they're having trouble keeping their data centers staffed with competent, trained employees. Budget strains, training woes, and recruiting issues are among the issues at hand. These statistics come from the 2010 edition of Symantec's annual State of the Data Center report.

ESI International, a provider of learning-based tools and certifications in project management and program management, offers 10 trends that will impact requirements management and development (RMD) this year.

Forrester Research recently updated its predictions for IT spending in 2010. So far, the outlook looks bright-particularly compared to last year, which saw an 8.9% drop in global IT spending. Forrester reports an expected 8.1% increase in spending globally and 6.5% rise within the U.S.

There certainly have been better times in the history of business to be working in IT. The slow economic recovery has done little to correct the damage done to IT departments, and over-stressed IT workers contend with longer hours and fewer resources in what has become an increasingly pressure-cooker environment. Yet IT is still expected to spearhead business transformation.

How much do you know about the hard-charging enterprise software giant? See also: Fast Facts About Google; Fast Facts on Microsoft, Fast Facts on HP

Meetings are a drag, and worse, they are often a waste of time. But Jean Van Rensselar of Chicago-based Smart PR Communications says productive, half-hour meetings are doable. "Lack of planning and unproductive discussion will turn what should be a 30-minute meeting into a 90-minute meeting. As the facilitator, the 60-minute difference is you." These rules apply to physical gatherings of 10 people or less, and many of them work for teleconferences as well.Extraordinary meetings called for extraordinary purposes will have their own dynamics.

The U.S. Department of Labor projects the fastest-growing jobs through 2016. IT careers look like winners.

Running an effective, efficient IT operation is no easy task.
Chris Oleson (an IT manager), Mike Hagan (an IT executive) and Christophe DeMoss (a national consultant) co-authored "Achieving IT Service Quality: The Opposite of Luck" (Synergy Books, 2009). This is their take on the seven biggest mistakes IT leaders make in running their shops - and what they can do to correct them.

Love your job? So do the folks at CareerCast.com, who put two IT specialties on their list of 10 Best Jobs of 2010. Their definition of "best job" seems heavily weighted toward sedentary indoor work, available to a broad swath of the population; if your ideal situation is, say, "Park Ranger," or "Philanthropist," this list is not for you. And what kind of list leaves off "Rock Star?" See also: Worst Jobs of 2010

Think your job is tough? Think again. Compare your daily routine to the those on CareerCast.com's list of 10 Worst Jobs of 2010, and chances are you'll start feeling better about your career choices. See also: 10 Best Jobs of 2010.

The newest Android phone breaks some new ground in the mobile wars — it's available directly from Google, and it's not tethered to a single carrier. But how does it stack up against the iPhone and other contenders for the smart-phone crown? Reviews are positive, but the game is just beginning.

Susan Cramm's forthcoming book, 8 Things We Hate About IT: How to Move Beyond the Frustrations to Form a New Partnership With IT (Harvard Business Press, March 2010), examines the frustrations common to the business-IT relationship. "Nobody hates the people in IT, but everybody - business and IT leaders alike- hates the current IT system," says Cramm, founder and president of the IT leadership firm Valuedance.

Her list of eight hates was validated by a 2009 survey of business and IT leaders. It's built around issues facing organizations, and includes perspectives from both sides.

Adapted from the site How to Nail an Interview, created by marketing pro Steinar Skipsness; the videos there must be seen to be believed.

A look at some of the new year's big issues on the security front, courtesy of ICSA Labs, a vendor-neutral testing and certification lab used by many top security vendors.

Our research shows 10 business and technology trends that will help define the IT landscape in 2010.

Great coaches can galvanize individuals with different interests and divergent objectives, and focus them on a common goal. Joe Frontiera, PhD and Dan Leidl, PhD, managing partners of Meno Consulting, spoke with elite lacrosse coaches, each of whom has led a team to at least one NCAA championship, to uncover commonalities in their methods -- lessons that apply in the office as well as on the playing field.

The law protects former employees from bad-mouthing by their ex-bosses, but many references are surprisingly blunt nonetheless. Allison & Taylor, a reference-checking and employment verification firm based in Detroit, released a list of some real-life bad references encountered over the course of 2009.

Workforce motivation expert Jon Gordon, a consultant for the NFL and numerous Fortune 500 enterprises, and the author of The Shark and the Goldfish: Positive Ways to Thrive During Waves of Change, has ten recommendations for reenergizing and engaging employees in the face of economic turmoil.

Our take on the biggest news and trends of 2009.

A recent report from Challenger, Gray and Christmas says social networking services such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are the hottest tool in the job seeker's arsenal. Here are the recruiting firm's top tips for making the most out of social networks, along with some relevant statistics on social net usage. See also: Don't Facebook Yourself Out of a Job, Work-Safe Social Networking.

It's the most successful company of the internet era, a reshaper of industries, a symbol of both good things and bad in the new economy. But how much do you really know about Google? See also: Fast Facts on Microsoft, Fast Facts on HP, and Why Google is Evil.

Jean-Paul Sartre said "Hell is other people," and although he said it in French and was not known as an expert on the IT workplace, I think you know what he was talking about. Not all people, of course - I'm sure you have none of the characteristics of the folks on this list. Right?

CIOs are growing more bullish about future hiring. According to Robert Half Technology's quarterly IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, the IT hiring surplus-the percentage of CIOs expecting to add staff minus the percentage expecting to reduce staff-is on the rise, which should provide a glimmer of hope to the legions of out-of-work IT professionals. Staffing firm Robert Half Technology has been churning out its quarterly IT hiring report since 1995, and the latest edition, for which more than 1,400 CIOs were surveyed, focuses on staffing expectations for the first quarter of 2010. Here are some nuggets of optimism that can be gleaned from what CIOs are anticipating next quarter:

Whether through bankruptcy, bad business decisions, loss of big contracts or huge declines in shareholder value, these ten companies lost their luster this year.

As virtual machine density increases within the enterprise, more organizations will need to update their servers to handle the increased loads. So say the analysts at IDC and at Gartner. We examine the numbers from both, as well as figures from a recent survey of 290 IT decision makers conducted by Shavlik Technologies at VMworld.

According to IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index released by Foote Partners, every category of IT certification, save one, saw a decline in pay premiums over the last 12 months. The percentages shown are the change in pay premium over the given period of time.

Even in a jobless recovery, some skills are in demand, and even command a pay premium. The most recent Foote Partners survey ranked the following non-certified IT skills as the hottest on the market as of the end of October; the firm publishes its IT Skills & Certifications Pay Index quarterly.

Mike Figliuolo of thoughtLEADERS, LLC says workers often are less happy with their bosses than they let on. "If you don't start fixing some of these behaviors, you might end up with a mutiny on your hands," he writes. Here's Mike's list of 10 obstacles to a happy team.

Details you may not know about the world’s biggest software company.

This list of "7 Lessons from a Marketing Genius" was created by Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience. Apple CEO Jobs is considered one of the greatest marketers in corporate history. For more than three decades, he has delivered legendary keynote presentations, raised product launches to an art form and successfully communicated the benefits of Apple products to millions of customers. Whether you're in sales, marketing, advertising or public relations, Steve Jobs has something to teach you about telling your brand story.

Some basic security practices are starting to become pervasive within small-to-midsized businesses, although these organizations may still leave a few gaps in the armor. A recent study sponsored by GFI Technologies polled 540 SMB IT managers; the research found that most of them employ some form of security, primarily in the area of antivirus technology. Nevertheless, the study found that gaps in insider threat protection still remained.

Technology is subject to grandiose expectations, and often it fails to live up to the hype. We’ve made huge gains in information management, communications, and getting sports scores on our mobile devices, but the promises unmet leave us wanting more.

The latest IT Employee Confidence Index from Technisource, compiled from surveys conducted by Harris Interactive during the third quarter, shows that IT pros are gaining confidence in the IT employment market and the overall economy.

Planned job losses fell for the third month in a row in October, down 16% from September to 55,679, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Despite the deceleration, it's been another brutal year. Here's a look at where most cuts were expected, and why.

The iPhone has been a technology game-changer and a cultural icon, yet Apple, despite its design wizardry, is still a non-factor in the enterprise IT market. We scoured the Internet looking for recurring complaints about the iPhone's various versions, and found a bevy of them. As the competition, including new BlackBerry and Android models, closes the gap, we offer a round-up of common complaints about the iPhone.

RSA recently came up with a list of seven guiding principles it considers key toward developing a systemic security strategy. Baseline takes a deeper dive.

The world's largest IT company is also one of the most interesting and influential. HP's impact goes well beyond technology; in many ways, it is the prototypical high-tech company and the fountainhead of Silicon Valley culture.

Data Dimension teamed up with IDC to take the temperature of the IT security market, with a global sampling of 400 IT decision makers. News was surprisingly good, given the state of overall IT budgets today. Organizations reported that they're holding the line on IT security investments and that real progress is being made to shift to data-centric security through technologies such as data leak prevention.By Ericka Chickowski

Do social networking sites serve as useful tools for connecting within the business world, or are they simply time-wasters? More than half of enterprise IT leaders lean toward the latter perspective, according to a new survey conducted amongst 1,400 CIOs by the employment experts at Robert Half Technology. The results conform with data collected from a previous study released by Nucleus Research earlier this summer; this slideshow compares results from both studies to paint a picture of social networking in the workplace.

How closely does your company monitor and measure software adoption, post-implementation? When things go wrong, does IT get blamed? Neochange, Sandhill Group and the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) recently surveyed 353 IT professionals to answer these and other questions about enterprise software adoption. What they said might sound familiar to your own experience-or provide some important lessons.

Best practices, compiled by consultant Jacoby Garcia.

IT dollars are tight, but most organizations are still spending on security audits. Amplitude Research surveyed 350 IT executives and network administrators about their security and compliance activities.

While spending predictions may have scared IT workers about their job prospects, a recent poll of CIOs by the Society for Information Management found that IT HR spending trends in 2010 may be more favorable than workers fear.

A recent survey conducted by Robert Half Technology found that many businesses ban sites such as Facebook and Twitter in the workplace. Seen as a distraction by some, these sites have potential value to IT employees who use them appropriately. Says Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, "These sites can be leveraged as effective business tools, which may be why about one in five companies allows their use for work-related purposes." The key is exercising good judgment, no matter which computer an employee uses to update their profiles, says Wilmer: "Professionals should let common sense prevail when using Facebook and similar sites -- even outside of business hours. Regrettable posts can be a career liability."

by Edward Cone "Don't be Evil" is Google's motto. How's that going? In this context, "evil" does not mean wicked, in the manner of Sauron or Voldemort, or bad in the way some people might judge tobacco companies or corrupt enterprise like Enron. Nick Carr probably got it right when he said, "When Google adopted 'don't be evil' as the cornerstone of its corporate code of conduct, what it really meant was 'don't be Microsoft.'" This does not imply that Microsoft is truly evil, just that Google was defining itself against the most powerful company in the software industry at that time — a company that was feared but not loved. So "don't be evil" translates roughly as "be customer-centric, and act with some greater good than your profit margins in mind — don't be just another huge company." By that standard, it's grown harder over time to argue that Google lives up to its motto. It is a useful and valuable and in many ways admirable enterprise, but maybe not so special after all.

The Society for Information Management recently polled CIOs about their IT spending priorities and plans for dollar allocation in the coming year.

While the U.S. economy continues to struggle, there are pockets of strength in the IT labor market. To find the hot spots, both by specialization and by industry, we spoke with the following experts: David Van De Voort, IT workforce specialist, Mercer, Chicago, IL; Dave Willmer, executive director, Robert Half Technology, Menlo Park, CA; Terry Erdle, senior vice president, skills certification, CompTIA, Oakbrook Terrace, IL; Umesh Ramakrishnan, vice chairman, CTPartners, Cleveland, OH.

The Society for Information Management (SIM) surveyed CIOs and IT executive leaders about their top priorities for 2010, based on a list of 20 IT and business concerns.

The open source search software behind some of the web’s hippest sites. By David F. Carr Read Carr's article on Solr, and see our slideshow on a related project, Hadoop.

BT in North America interviewed 150 IT workers from a wide range of organizations to get a feel for their businesses’ attitudes, policies and procedures around green IT.

IT workers on the hunt for greener pastures look for any advantage they can find to land that dream job. But just how useful are recruiters in the technology job market? Dice.com asked as much this month in its September job update.

Crowds gathered recently at the Moscone Center to discuss innovations in virtualization. With so many companies deploying virtualization solutions on a massive scale, this year's hot topics were around managing and optimizing virtualized platforms and systems.

Business Intelligence (BI) projects are often the domain of large enterprises, but small to medium businesses can also benefit from BI if they move carefully. Aberdeen Group recently released a report that detailed a number of recommendations for SMBs to better leverage intelligence based on the BI maturity of the organization—Low, Medium, or High.

By Ericka Chickowski

According to research conducted by CareerBuilder, social networking poses a serious threat to job seekers who have posted inappropriate information about themselves. With so many IT workers taking advantage of sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter these days, tech geeks need to keep future interviewers in mind before bragging about their beer pong champion status or posting crazy pictures.

By Ericka ChickowskiSee also: Using Social Nets in Your Job Search.

These are tumultuous times, characterized by shot-gun mergers, acquisitions, and corporate restructurings resulting in mass lay-offs. This corporate churn forces companies to change employee access to sensitive corporate data on very short notice, grant access privileges to new employees, adjust access privileges for re-assigned employees, and terminate access for former employees and contractors. Organizations that are "identity aware" can successfully - and proactively - manage the IT risk associated with changing user access to applications and systems. In this presentation, SailPoint's Founder and CEO, Mark McClain, provides advice to help IT organizations prepare for these scenarios.

CA recently polled 100 technology executives at companies that use IBM System z mainframes. They reported that their loyalty to mainframe technology stems from its ability to meet requirements for reliability, resilience, security, management, and compliance. See also: The Mainframe Career Option.

The audit, tax and advisory gurus at KPMG report that technology executives are optimistic about the technology sector's prospects for economic recovery. A recent KPMG survey shows, tech execs saying they thought the industry will recover more quickly than other U.S. industries.

Ever wonder what your boss makes in base salary? KForce, a technology staffing firm with 41 offices across the U.S., asked their thousands of consultants for input on CIO pay in various markets. Here's what they estimate as the going rate in the central region of the U.S. See also CIO Salaries for the Eastern and Western U.S.

Curious about how much your boss takes home? Technology staffing firm KForce gathered data on IT salaries from their consultants in various cities across the U.S. Here's what they estimate as the going rate for new hires in the eastern region of the U.S. See also CIO Salaries for the Central and Western U.S.

Wondering how much the top dog in the IT shop makes? KForce, a technology staffing firm with 41 offices across the U.S., asked its consultants for the going rate for CIO base salaries in various cities. Here's what they say about the western portion of the U.S.See also CIO Salaries for the Central and Eastern U.S.

Organizations leave themselves vulnerable to attack by ignoring security throughout their application development and testing process, according to a new study by Ponemon Institute and MicroFocus. The comprehensive look into data security during testing is the result of a survey of more than 1,350 IT practitioners in the US and the UK who work for enterprises with revenues from $10 million to over $20 billion.

More American workers are willing to pull up stakes to find work, according to a new report by the employment experts at Challenger, Gray and Christmas, a global outplacement consultancy.

The economic decline has changed the way businesses value IT investments, but new data shows that there's still plenty of room for improvement. That's what ISACA (isaca.org) revealed in its Value of IT 2009 study. Here are some of the key findings for U.S. CIOs, as well as findings from across the world. Note: Some totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Recently both McAfee and Symantec released reports on the state of malicious online activity in 2009. Here are some highlights from the stats and findings of Symantec's Mid-Year Update and the McAfee Threats Report.

The following ten certifications were identified in the Foote Partners July 2009 Hot List as the hottest in the tech business, as judged by IT spending trends, market value increases reported in the company's pay index, interviews with IT management and projections for future skills demand. While some experienced zero growth last quarter, it's important to remember that a flat trend line is the 'new growth curve' in this down economy.

According to the latest survey from Dice.com, salaries just keep dropping. But that doesn't mean that employers can't incentivize their geeks to work hard. Dice recently polled workers about what employers can offer beyond salary to keep them happy.

According to the most recent Foote Partners IT Skills & Certifications Pay Index, the non-certified IT skills listed below give those who have honed them a bit more leverage when sitting for an interview or a pay review. The quarterly index systematically categorizes and establishes value for discrete skills categories.

What IT managers can learn from Embarq's thin-client initiative.

Things are tough out there, but IT recruiters report that there's still a market for the right skillsets. According to Tom Silver, senior vice president for IT employment firm Dice.com, Dice is seeing lots of demand from hiring managers in the following nine categories.

Will IT employment prospects look any brighter anytime soon? Our magic eight ball says, "Reply hazy, try again." Here are some highlights from the most recent reports, which show sometimes contradictory outlooks.

Paring costs at the onset of a recession is easy compared to finding savings after months of budget cuts -- especially with the need to prepare the enterprise for future growth. "I'm alarmed by the number of IT organizations that can't justify many of their expenditures and vendor pricing," says Jeff Muscarella, a partner with spend-management firm NPI Financial. He offers these basic tactics to help "even the most time-deprived, short-staffed IT organization."

Outplacement consultants with Challenger, Gray & Christmas say the number of technology jobs lost last quarter went down dramatically compared to first quarter figures.

IT vendors have tried going around the CIO and straight to top business executives or specific business-line managers to sell their wares. But who has the most influence? Forrester Research asked almost 1,000 enterprise decision-makers in North America and Europe to find out (percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding).

IT professionals put the value of business efficiency over cost reductions, but in this economy they are still struggling with tight budgets. Microsoft recently commissioned Harris Interactive to survey more than 1,200 IT pros worldwide to find their perspective on driving innovation and IT spending priorities.

IT leaders want to invest more in software initiatives, but the economy forces them to be more discriminating than ever. Forrester Research asked 431 North American and European executives what platform and infrastructure software they'll be spending on in the next 12 months. Here's what they said.

Note: totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

IBM asked nearly 1,900 IT decision-makers at midsize organizations about their top IT priorities in 2009 and beyond. The survey found five specific trends that IBM highlighted for readers in its report, Inside the Midmarket: A 2009 Perspective.

Two of the biggest analyst firms recently adjusted their IT spending predictions, and though the numbers vary slightly, consensus is that things don’t look great for 2009.

Computer Economics recently released its annual IT spending analysis, based on in-depth interviews of 200 IT executives. Even as many organizations continue to cut back, others are increasing spending or at least holding level.

Al Gore may take credit for inventing it. The Department of Defense deserves credit for building out its infrastructure. But let’s face it: The real wizards behind the curtain, the first true marketeers of the Internet, and the virtuosos of virtual innovation are the Internet’s purveyors of porn. Here’s how the porn industry has helped evolve the Internet, for both good and bad. by Ericka Chickowski

Insider threats from ex-employees linger when IT organizations fail to deprovision terminated workers access to all systems. Read Ericka Chickowski's article on this topic.

What Frontier Airlines learned from its recent project. See also a detailed article on this topic.

CIOs will continue struggle with iffy budgets throughout the rest of the year, according to a new poll conducted among 900 CIOs by Gartner Executive Programs. Released in mid-June week, results showed an expected IT spending decline in 2009 of about 4.7%. Figures were compared to a similar poll conducted at the end of 2008.

The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has released its mid-year analysis of major data breaches reported so far in 2009. Though the total numbers show an improvement over the first half of 2008, ITRC is reporting the percentage of insider attacks and breaches caused by hacking is on the rise. As it does with all of its reports, ITRC warns users to remember that the number of reported breaches is likely just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to actual breach statistics. Many more incidents go unreported. See also: Snooping by IT Workers on the Rise and 14 Insider Threats

A survey of non-IT executives, conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers for the IT Governance Institute, shows that many business leaders believe IT investments create value, but many still view the department as an operational and tactical asset rather than as a strategic partner.
Full results can be found in the ITGI report An Executive View of IT Governance.

Aberdeen Group conducted a comprehensive study of 130 enterprises regarding their attitudes and practices surrounding governance, risk and compliance (GRC) initiatives. This slideshow highlights findings from Aberdeen’s wrap-up report, IT GRC: Managing Risk, Improving Visibility, and Reducing Operating Costs, by analyst Derek Brink.

One detail: the GRC acronym has things out of order; Aberdeen says enterprises emphasize compliance first, IT governance next and risk management last.

So, just how efficient is a bureaucrat in the data center? No, that isn’t the beginning to a great joke. It is a question posed by CDW Government in its most recent survey on virtualization within federal agencies, across the civilian and defense spectrum. The company questioned 377 government IT managers in April, compiling the results in its 2009 Federal Virtualization Report released in mid-June.

Memes come and go on the web, spread by email and YouTube and word of mouth. But what happens to the stars once the webcams are off?

In a poll of IT executives and line-of-business leaders, a recent "State of Disaster Recovery" survey found that each group still has its own ideas about business continuity. Conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of SunGard Availability Services, results show what IT workers are up against when it comes to advocating disaster recovery activities.

One of the hallmarks of great leadership is the ability to ferret out destructive organizational problems before they impact the working culture, says Michael Roberto. As IT departments face cutbacks and mounting workloads, management must find ways to head off issues at the pass. Author of Know What You Don’t Know: How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen, Roberto suggests the following seven ways to keep organizational problems at bay.

New books on IT project management, green technology, networking and outsourcing make up our quarterly reading list for IT pros.

While the economy may show a few faint signs of strengthening, IT hiring managers still expect recessionary forces to dampen recruiting efforts for the next six months. New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as well as survey results from a poll of 1,900 recruiters by tech employment gurus at Dice.com, gives a picture of the current IT job market.

A survey of over 400 IT pros by data-security firm Cyber-Ark indicates that tech workers have broad access to confidential data, and that they are using that access more now than before.

IT recruitment firm Robert Half Technology has released its third quarter IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, and the results are mixed. The IT employment outlook is healthy in certain industries and certain parts of the country, but not so good in other industries and regions. Overall the numbers seem to indicate a slow march toward recovery, with more good news for IT workers than bad. More than 1,400 CIOs from companies with at least 100 employees were polled, and here’s what they had to say about the next three months:

According to IBM ISS X-Force findings, SQL injections last year became the most common Web-based attack technique. Hackers are successful with these attacks largely due to poor coding practices. The following are six ways organizations can start to mitigate the risk from SQL injections.

The Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Beth Israel Deaconess Physician Organization EHR project team provides some lessons learned from its big virtualization project. See also: the project in depth.

As the rate of increase in new unemployment claims slows, a survey report released by outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas shows that human resource executives are resorting to salary cuts and pay freezes to cut costs, rather than cutting jobs outright. Comparisons are with an earlier survey by the firm.

Symantec recently commissioned Applied Research to survey over 1,000 North American IT professionals about their attitudes and practices regarding green IT. The findings showed significant uptick in green IT plans, strategies and spending. Symantec grouped its statistics in five findings categories:
1. Green IT Is Now an Essential
2. Green IT Budgets Are Rising
3. IT Is Willing to Pay a Premium for Green IT
4. IT Is at the Heart of Enterprise Green Efforts
5. Green IT Initiatives More of a Priority

Accenture recently surveyed 300 senior IT professionals in North America and the UK about their ERP systems. The following slides highlight the survey results.

What you need know, while you’re on the go.

The recent release—and smashing success—of the new Star Trek and Terminator films has given techies a reason to rejoice. It’s no secret why IT folks flock to sci-fi movies: They love to see how Hollywood depicts the evolution of technology. It’s like a really entertaining trade show that gives them a glimpse of the future. In that spirit, we present some films that are famous, in part, because of the importance IT played in their plots. And no, we’re not aware of any films that will show you how to get the most out of cloud computing. (The titles here are in reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent film.)

Many technology managers are having a hard time tracking the use of Web 2.0 technologies and protecting their organizations from the inherent risks of interactive media. Websense recently conducted an in-depth survey on the matter, asking 1300 IT managers from 10 countries about their attitudes and practices surrounding Web 2.0. The highlights suggest that defenses could use some work.

The economic slump continues, bringing with it a rash of technology-industry layoffs that IT workers may feel in their own jobs. The following are eight of the highest-impact layoffs announced by U.S.-based companies this spring. By Ericka Chickowski

Even though most workers want to work from home at times and some would even take a pay cut to do so, more than half never get the opportunity to unshackle themselves from the office desk, according to a recent survey commissioned by Citrix Online and conducted by the firm inc./WomenTrend. Check out the results, compiled from questioning of 600 workers worldwide.

Unemployment is high, and heading higher. If you lose your job, you may be able to negotiate a better severance package than the one first offered you. Maury Hanigan of Layoffcoach.com offers this advice for the newly jobless.

Some highlights from the Association of Information and Image Management (AIIM) report, “E-mail Management: The good, the bad and the ugly.” The report analyzed a survey conducted earlier in the spring on e-mail management practices and beliefs.

Do techies have a weakness for conspiracy theories? A certain suspicion of authority is a hallmark of tech culture, along with the belief that better answers may be out there for almost any problem. On the other hand, the job demands a logical approach. The Internet, meanwhile, is a hotbed of both mythology and myth-busting. And for whatever it’s worth, a lot of conspiracy theories today involve information technology. One recent example of web-fueled, tech-tinged fantasy: stories and blog posts claiming that Google Earth showed the location of the lost continent of Atlantis. Here’s our list of persistent stories, some related to tech and some from the broader culture.

Security Information and Event Management technology has yet to come into its own. Though enterprises have been aided to some degree by SIEM technologies of different stripes, these products fall short of expectations over and over again. Baseline tapped Mike Rothman, former security analyst and current senior vice president of strategy for SIEM vendor eIQnetworks to explain why so many SIEM deployments disappoint.

The Information Systems Audit Control Association (ISACA), a nonprofit group that represents 86,000 IT governance, audit and security practitioners across the globe, recently conducted a survey of 500 IT pros about technology investments and an evaluation of their returns. Here’s a recap of the findings.

An inside look at online job posting statistics from employment site Dice.com. All figures are as of May 1, 2009.

The quarterly Foote Partners IT Skills & Certifications Pay Index, released in late April, systematically categorizes and establishes market value for discrete job-skills categories.

The following is from the index's hot list and valuation data.

As fears of a Swine Flu pandemic grow, you need to make sure your organization is ready to deal with business and IT continuity issues.

Content provided by SunGard Availability Services.

Sports fans are tracking NBA and NHL playoff games on their iPhones, streaming audio of their favorite baseball team's games at the office, and posting shots of their kids' soccer games on Flickr. But technological innovation not only has transformed the way we interact with sports over the past 10-15 years, it's altered the sports themselves. In the spirit of spring fever, here's our look at the most dramatic changes technology has wreaked on sports.

Foote Partners recently released its quarterly IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index outlining the hottest skills and certifications. According to the survey, 60 skills and certifications decreased in value, while 46 increased in value. The following list of 10 certifications is from the report’s Hot List, in order of descending ‘hotness,’ according to Foote’s analysis.

By Bruce F. Webster With IT budgets frozen or pared back, you need to handle any staff reductions carefully to ensure that you hold onto your best engineers and managers. For an in-depth look at this topic, click here. [Copyright (c) 2009 by Bruce F. Webster]

PowerPoint is not inherently evil, but it sure feels that way when you are trapped in the audience for a bad presentation. Some people just don't get the concept. You know who we’re talking about - the folks who read each slide, word for word, instead of leveraging the illustrative and explanatory power of the medium. But even the best of speakers look bad when they are accompanied by amateurish slide decks. If you've ever fallen prey to any of these blunders, it is time to think about revising your next presentation’s slides.

Times are tough and many organizations may be in survival mode, but CIOs are still spending, according to a recent survey conducted by Robert Half International. The firm’s research shows that the majority of organizations still plan on investing on IT initiatives in the next 12 months. Robert Half International recently asked 1,400 CIOs at United States-based companies with 100 or more employees: "Which areas, if any, will your IT department be investing in over the next 12 months?" See Tony Kontzer's analysis of the spending survey, which is less cheerful than it might appear.

by Ericka Chickowski Learning from your mistakes is good. Learning from others’ mistakes is even better. We looked at 12 major IT failures to learn more about how and why they happened. Each example is unique, but they all have something in common: a chain reaction of pain that rippled through the entire business or organization. Whatever the specifics, breakdowns within the IT organization are rarely contained. They can lose a business customers, they can cause lawsuits, and in some instances they can even shut a business down.

by Ericka Chickowski Some of the most common - and most devastating - IT failures come as a result of failed enterprise resource planning (ERP) initiatives. These cases illustrate some of the problems these big projects face.

by Ericka Chickowski The development of business requirements and project parameters can make or break an IT project. The data in this slideshow comes from an IAG Consulting report called Business Analysis Benchmark, which was culled from a survey of over 100 organizations which carried out IT development projects with an average budget of around $3 million. A key takeway: mixed project-planning teams that include business and IT people tend to get the best results.

In this tough year, IT managers can use every bit of advice they can find. These five books, slated to be published this quarter, can be a big help. Books on enterprise transformation, IT metrics, product development, careers and performance management make up our spring reading list for IT managers.

by David F. Carr Based on distributed computing technologies Google has publicly disclosed, Hadoop provides an open source implementation for other companies with very large data analysis challenges, including Yahoo! and Facebook. The free software, named for a toy elephant, now runs on some of the largest sites on the Web.

Social networking and rich media bring new threats to your data security. A report from MessageLabs, a unit of Symantec, describes several problems cropping up in the Web 2.0 world.

Personal Health Records could help fix America's healthcare crisis. According to Dossia, a non-profit consortium of large companies, including Wal-Mart, committed to providing electronic records to employees, advantages better health and lower costs. For an in-depth view of Dossia, click here.

A new study by Computer Economics, "Insider Misuse of Computing Resources," looked at security risks posted by employees who inadvertently expose their organizations to possible information loss or compromise. The survey included 100 IT security professionals and executives.

External threats to data security are clear, says Computer Economics president Frank Scavo, but the nature of internal threats may be less so. For example, over one-third of organizations surveyed lack policies against loading sensitive data onto portable storage devices like USB flash drives. This practice recently compromised a secure data network at the Pentagon.

A spate of funky new prototypes suggests wearable computing has finally arrived.
Among the sci-fiesque items: USB prosthetics, webcams in eyesockets, and vests that track one’s health. Also, smart bras and shoes.
Here’s our list of the wildest in wearable computing and electronics.

Building a lean IT organization requires five key roles, according to Forrester. These roles help businesses analyze potential cost cuts in workforce, services, and capex while improving efficiency. Here’s a recap of what Marc Cecere, Forrester analyst and lead author of the report, had to say about these roles.

A new report by Gartner, titled Dataquest Alert: Utilities, Healthcare and Government Lead IT Spending Growth in Challenging 2009, details where IT spending is headed. Gartner analysts expect overall worldwide IT spending growth of one-half of one percent, and an essentially flat U.S. growth rate of 0.1 percent.. Here are some key figures and our comments.

Talent retention can be a challenge, even as bad times persist. Management must focus on keeping essential workers happy, be prepared to hire opportunistically, and to resume growth when the economy improves. That means reacting and adapting to a changes in the job market, and having flexible plans in place in order to retain and attract talent -- even as the protracted downturn changes the rules of the game.

The Great Recession, as some are calling it, is different in some important ways from previous economic downturns. Tom Silver, Chief Marketing Officer of Dice.com, looks at key differences for technology workers.

As economic forecasts predict an ever-lengthening recession, CIOs will continue to be called upon to trim costs and create better operational efficiencies. We spoke with Frank Casale, CEO and chairman of the Outsourcing Institute, and Allen Weinberg, principal and North American leader of McKinsey & Company’s Outsourcing and Offshoring Practice, about IT functions with the biggest potential for outsourcing or offshoring.

The Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, a survey of over 1,400 CIOs at companies with more than 100 employees, shows a slowdown in hiring plans for the second quarter of this year.But some jobs, industries, and regions still project solid growth.

The challenge: in using IT to support business goals, you have to deal with business, development, and technology cycles, which are rarely in sync.

Business process outsourcing looks to get a big spending bump in 2009, but it still ranks at the bottom of the list in terms of planned spending on consulting, outsourcing and training. CIO Insight’s 2009 IT Spending study reveals where businesses are pushing budget dollars in these areas this year.See Also: spending survey data for hardware, software, security, and infrastructure.

Nobody can afford to be casual about their jobs in this economy. But personal skills, an area where IT workers do not have a reputation for excellence, could cost you. A new book, The Personal Credibility Factor: How to Get It, Keep It, and Get It Back (If You’ve Lost It), by Sandy Allgeier, looks at common ways people gain and lose the trust of others. Focus on one issue at a time, says Allgeier. All quotes in the slideshow are from the author.

Spending on server and storage virtualization will get a big boost in 2009, CIO Insight’s 2009 IT Spending study finds. But operating systems upgrades take the cake in architecture and infrastructure spending. See Also: spending survey data for hardware, software, and security.

More companies are planning to buy anti-virus and malware software than any other security technologies. Intrusion prevention and detection systems and VPNs also look to be getting budget dollars from more than half the companies surveyed in CIO Insight’s 2009 IT Spending study. See also: Spending survey data for hardware, software.

It’s clear that CIOs won’t be on a spending spree this year, but they still have a number of big budgeting priorities. CIO Insight’s 2009 IT Spending study sheds light on where IT leaders are directing dollars for application software and systems. See also: Top Hardware Spending Priorities.

IT spending levels may be dropping, but businesses are still spending. The top spending category is hardware, according to CIO Insight’s 2009 IT Spending study. PCs, servers, printers/scanners/copiers, wireline networking devices and storage equipment all made the top 10. See also: Top Software Spending Priorities.

Sophisticated devices require careful security planning. For more information on the topics covered in this slideshow, click here.

The premium paid for IT certifications has been declining steadily over the last several years, but some specialties still command good money. Foote Partners' IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index shows that recent big winners have centered around security and architecture. See also: 10 Certifications Not Worth the Trouble.

As IT managers have become less willing to pay a premium for candidates who hold IT certifications, some specializations have lost value faster than the overall market. The following IT certifications have fared particularly poorly over the last year, according to the Foote Partners' IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index. See also: 10 Hot IT Certifications.

by Ericka Chickowski Foote Partners recently released its IT Skills and Certification Pay Index, which examines IT pay premiums through the end of 2008. Premium pay is defined as compensation received for possessing high-value IT and business skills used on the job. It is often used to adjust either base pay or total pay in situations where job title does not match actual duties and responsibilities. It may be used as a reward, recruiting inducement, retention tool or as a guide for creating consulting rate cards. Foote Partners surveys 179 different skills to calculate IT pay premiums.

These technologies got more IT dollars than CIOs had anticipated, according to a CIO Insight poll.

by Bob Violino Deloitte's 6th Annual Global Security Survey listed the most widely-deployed security technologies.

By Ericka Chickowski Will your job survive the recession? Baseline scoured employment reports and interviewed a number of IT employment and consulting professionals — among them Sean Ebner, Western regional vice president for Technisource, an IT consulting and employment outfit owned by Spherion — to find out who should be updating their resumes. See also: 10 Jobs Ripe for Outsourcing

by Edward Cone Geeks have had a central role in popular culture since Homer rapped about Odysseus. Modern media is not always so kind. Who are these people, and what does it mean?

Reality didn’t match expectations for these technologies when it came time to spend real money, according to a CIO Insight poll of CIOs. Each slide shows how actual spending matched up with projections for last year.

How to make sure an enterprise Open Source project goes smoothly. Compiled with help from Ray Wang, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, and Navica CEO Bernard Golden.

Times are tough, and project managers need to understand how the downturn may affect their operations. Baseline interviewed two project management experts, Michael Welles of EdWel Programs, a project management training company, and Lou Russell of Russell Martin Associates, a consulting firm, to feel the Project Management Office’s pain. See also 10 Silver Linings for Project Management.

Projects are being slashed, staff members are being shown the door and the economy is in the tank. But there are still a few bright spots for project managers and the project management office (PMO) during these lean times. Michael Welles of EdWel Programs, Lou Russell of Russell Martin Associates, and Gregory Balestrero of the Project Management Institute named a few opportunities project managers can find today. See also 10 Brutal Realities of Project Management

Not every project will survive the recession. Many don't make it even in better times. Shutting down an IT project should be a methodical process, whether the job is being put on hiatus or killed once and for all.

Applied Research questioned 1,600 IT representatives from enterprises with 5,000 employees or more as part of Symantec’s annual survey.

IT workers’ faith in the economy and their own job prospects plunged dramatically in the fourth quarter compared with the same period in 2007, according to staffing firm Technisource. The firm’s survey found that more IT pros expect to lose their jobs; at the same time, they don’t believe there will be jobs out there when it happens. Check out the full results.

The job market is brutal, but some IT specializations remain in high demand. Many of the hottest roles and skills address issues specific to survival, such as productivity, efficiency and process improvement. Most relevant are those experts who can use technology to help drive profit.

Homework assignment: 10 must-reads to be published in the weeks and months ahead. Your competitors will be reading them. You should, too.

Popular technologies like virtualization, databases and mobility could be as risky as they are useful to enterprise users in 2009.

To truly become efficient, storage managers are addressing the nagging problem of duplicated data that eats up space in the storage and backup infrastructure. Here are some of the major players in the storage arena offering some form of single-instance storage, deduplication and even records-matching to get rid of those extra bytes and make way for new data.

A look at the most disastrous security breaches of the past year.

Two of the five this year’s most-improved vendors in our 2008 Vendor Value study are telecom vendors. But they seem to have improved at the expense of their competitors.

Once again, Dell and Hewlett-Packard fought a tight race to the top of our 2008 Vendor Value rankings for hardware vendors.

Cisco’s dominance is under serious challenge from a host of smaller, nimble companies, according to our 2008 Vendor Value study.

The software vendor rankings in our 2008 Vendor Value survey reflected the changing face of the enterprise software market.

CIO Insight’s annual Vendor Value survey gets to the heart of the IT vendor market, with IT managers ranking their providers by value, reliability and loyalty.

At the forefront of computer security at the network, desktop and code levels are the security researchers who blend a mix of skills in hacking, software programming and intelligent detective work to help decode and thwart online criminal behavior. Whether it’s tracking the latest Windows malware, bots, rootkits, attack scripts, distributed denial of service (DDOS), Trojan horses and other Internet and application security flaws, these researchers are at the forefront of protecting data, financial information and identities in an increasingly more open online world. These malware researchers face an uphill battle as the numbers for data breaches and identity theft climb every year. Yet, they push on. Here are 10 security researchers who deserve our praise and thanks.

Securing your infrastructure- the applications, databases, files and network --via encryption may not always be easy to implement, but it is one of the most risk-averse ways to prevent data breaches and keep intellectual property under wraps. But navigating the sea of encryption tools can be a chore with so many points within IT infrastructure that can be encrypted, from the network to the hard disk, and the database to the file system. Keep your CTO off your back and your project assets safe and locked down. Baseline gives you a head start with seven encryption tools—some free, some not—that you may not know and could be worth implementing.

As 2009 unfolds, it’s clear that enterprises with a forward-thinking approach and a solid grasp of technology trends will have a distinct competitive advantage. The following technologies trends in areas like SaaS, virtualization and project portfolio management, among others, are likely to shape IT and business in the coming year, and they can give your company the advantage it needs to do business in this challenging economic environment.

The world of IT is one of innovation, leadership and collaboration, and the 50 individuals profiled in this gallery have played major roles in getting us where we are today and will help us get to where we want to be in the future. Take, for example, Vinton Cerf, co-designer of TCP/IP protocols and co-architect of the early Internet. With decades spend in the IT field, he continues to seek out new technologies and business models as Google’s vice president and chief Internet evangelist. And let’s not forget Al Gore, who was derided for his claim that he took the initiative in creating the Internet. But Cerf says Gore did play a critical role in promoting the creation of a national information infrastructure.

For several years now, security researchers have warned enterprises and government organizations of the growing threat posed by organized cyber criminals. Online crime rings are fleecing organizations out of customer and employee personally identifiable information, stealing passwords, intellectual property and more.

Baseline salutes NASA on the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 and the efforts put forth to put a man on the moon.

Turn mountains of log data and analysis into actionable information with these ten free applications that every IT manager should know about.

Salaries for IT professionals changed little from June 2007 to June 2008. Although hiring for the most in-demand jobs has returned to normal levels, lower-level administrative jobs appear to be on the cutting block.

In an April SaaS survey conducted by Burton Group and Ziff Davis Enterprise Research, 67 percent of the 252 CIOs whose companies use some form of SaaS have been doing so for two or more years.

The easiest way to prevent a project meltdown is to prevent that bad project from ever lifting off the ground. Here’s how.

A 2008 Baseline Security Survey reveals that most security gurus are not spending their budgets on the risks that most concern them. Here are the results.

A poorly implemented or misaligned IT project can be like a millstone around a CIO's neck. Unfortunately, sometimes the only way for IT leaders to get on with their work is to remove the weight of those millstones altogether.

Password managers put all your eggs in one basket, but at least something keeps an eye on the basket. The better managers encrypt the passwords and won't let you get to them without a good password, either.

Enterprise databases are expensive and extremely necessary. Here are some free database tools to help manage this critical technology and business engine.

The world belongs to agile, flexible companies that dare to innovate and displace outmoded business models. Baseline checks out the most disruptive companies.  To slow down the pace of the slide show, please use the pause button just above the index page (on the right of this page). You can then use the arrow button to advance.  

Managing IT professionals is a lot easier task when the technology team is made up of talented individuals. Unfortunately, many IT managers fail to cultivate their skills around recruiting because they do it so infrequently compared to their other day-to-day management tasks.
In this last installment of Getting the Best out of Geeks slideshow, we spoke with Dan Martineau. A 25-year veteran in IT headhunting, Martineau is principal of Martineau Recruiting Technology. He offers 10 tips on improving IT recruiting practices.
 

Here is a list of the most effective free storage and backup utilities, which are designed more to help you recover data that's important to you in your everyday duties, after you find out the hard way why hard drives and spilled coffee don't mix.

Check out these more critically functional enhancements to Mozilla's Firefox.

3D technology isn't just for scientific modeling and attempts at cinematic nostalgia anymore; Many companies are using the tech for everything from R&D to education. Here's just a sampling of a few of the projects in the enterprise arena.

In this installment of Getting the Best Out of Geeks, we spoke with project management guru Dr. Steve Flannes to get the scoop on the ten biggest people-related mistakes that IT project managers can make. As the principal of the consultancy Flannes & Associates, he specializes in managing people through projects and is the author of Essential People Skills for Project Managers. 

An upcoming survey from Symantec and Applied Research-West confirms many suspicions about the generation gap in the workplace, namely that younger workers will use your corporate network to run most any device, technology or social networking software they can get their hands on. Should you be concerned? Oh, yes.

The CDC Influenza Pandemic Plan outlines the agency’s IT plans and systems to support a nationwide response to a potential outbreak of a non-seasonal flu pandemic through real-time data exchange and information management. 

Baseline’s second installment of a four-part series on how to get the most from your IT role players.

Baseline’s first installment of a four-part series on how to get the most from your IT role players.

Fixware, freeware and almost-legalware to keep you up to date with your IT department.

If you're the type of maverick who's ever gone to a formal event in a tuxedo t-shirt or a gown and Chuck Taylors, then you'll probably benefit from this list. It could potentially make a difference in your future earning potential. Seriously.  

Baseline explains the latest set of rules for the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) data security standards and how the changes will affect merchants who want to stay compliant.
 

As users' security perceptions toward the Internet are improving around the world, security experts say that the volume and severity of security threats is increasing. Cisco Systems set out to see how remote workers in various countries perceive and treat Internet security. SOURCE: Cisco Systems' Year Two: Security Perceptions & Online Behavior of Remote Workers survey
Read the related Baseline article: Users Believe Internet Is “Safer”
 

In addition to introducing a lot of operational and security improvements, virtualization can also act as a great cost-cutting measure. And what says cost-cutting better than free? Check out our list of 10 free virtualization tools and utilities that you haven’t heard much about.

Baseline takes a quick and dirty tour of Apple's latest laptop, the MacBook Air. Is this gorgeously designed device ready for seasoned business users and road warriors?

While the unwashed masses can only dream of turning digital dreams into bona fide businesses, the famous use their clout to jump in with both well-shod feet. Here’s a list of celebrities taking a flyer on technology-based businesses.

IT virtualization provides unprecedented gains in efficiency and flexibility. But as these virtualized environments grow increasingly prevalent in the enterprise, admins must now consider the technology’s unique security risks. Noted security expert Pete Lindstrom, senior analyst at the Burton Group, has compiled the five immutable laws IT professionals must understand to keep their virtualized systems safe.

While a little far-fetched, "Untraceable" is not an unusual portrayal of hacking and computer security through the movie-makers lens. In this limelight, Baseline recounts 20 famous hacker movies.

We’ve waded through the growing list of Vista 'gadgets' (widgets) to find the real gems that will help you best balance work, family and personal time on your desktop. All are available for free download at the Windows Live Gallery.

Football has come a long way from leather helmets and frozen tundra. The NFL is now among the biggest spectator sports in the world, thanks in part to technologies that have made the game safer for players and more enjoyable for fans everywhere. As the playoffs heat up, here’s a few of the high-tech wonders that keep us glued to the game and the tailgate on any given Sunday.

Already forgotten Major League Baseball's Mitchell Report? Here’s another kind of "cheaters" list that you will want to avoid. Here are 12 companies who have been fined by the Business Software Alliance for not playing by the rules of asset ma

Every successful executive knows that the key to a satisfying career is maintaining that precious work-life balance. Nobody can work straight through a 10-hour day without a little amusement, after all. The following are some great games to relieve a litt

It has been a little over a year now since Microsoft first launched Windows Vista to the enterprise market. Baseline takes a look at the kind of traction the new operating system has gained over 2007, and what analysts expect in 2008.

Want to help your company’s bottom line and get in good with your staff? Here are 10 excellent security tools that your technology team needs to know about. Feel free to show them to your CIO too, since they’re free and all.

The presidential election may be a year away, but Americans are already voting with their wallets. As the candidates collect campaign contributions for their trek toward the White House, Baseline took a look at who is get

Who Wins the War of Value to Customers?

Based on responses of companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

Based on responses of companies with under $500 million in annual revenue

Small Enterprise Ratings Based on responses of companies with more than $500 million in annual revenue

Which vendor wins in overall customer satisfaction?

The Uptime Institute (www.uptimeinstitute.org) recently published definitions for quantitative metrics that can measure a data center’s green quotient. The following are five top metrics that execut

These companies lead their respective verticals in leveraging IT to maximize profits and productivity.

The retail industry will spend nearly $40 billion by 2011 to upgrade systems to improve customer experience.

The Web portal is struggling to maintain relevance in the increasingly competitive online advertising, social networking and multimedia world. It must overcome a handful of steep challenges if it hopes to succeed.

By David F. Carr

Business intelligence is on top of most enterprises’ buying agenda: according to Forrester, 41% expect to make a purchase or upgrade related to BI in 2007.

Still, there are plenty of obstacles that hinder—or even sabotage—a company’s abili

The portal's struggle is thrown into sharp relief by the success if its chief rival, Google.

A Case Dissection in Miniature

Reporter: Mel Duvall
Designer: Steve Anderson
Producer: Robert Hertzberg

How one of Wal-Mart's suppliers uses the technology.

Reporter: Mel Duvall
Graphics: Funnelinc.com
Designed by: Brian Moore
Producer: Robert Hertzberg

IT asset disposal vendors remove your outdated equipment and determine the best--and proper--way to get rid of it and the data on it. By David Carr

Of the 46 highest-paid chief information officers on our list, 21 of them had pay packages worth more than $1 million.

A digital surveillance and detection system takes many of the best forensics tools and applies them before the fact, not after. Here’s an example of how a detection platform works behind the scenes, using a “captain” module at company headquarters and “cr

Baseline ranked the fastest-growing software companies based on year-to-year revenue growth from 2004 to 2005, or the closest 12-month periods within a quarter.

A look at the 25 publicly-traded companies that have managed information best over the last three years.

The Top 100 most influential people in IT—numbers 75-51.

The Top 100 most influential people in IT—numbers 50-26.

Here is a ranked list of the 40 fastest-growing software companies based on publicly-available financial data. These software companies run the gamut in: business software, CRM, financial software, middleware, human resources and workforce management software, content management systems, business intelligence, web and predictive analytics, networking and monitoring software, databases, security, data mining, portfolio management, supply chain management, automation software and many more.

When it comes to computer security and malware, the rise of bot networks have been one of the most significant security threats that exists today. Baseline examines how bots work and offers some essential security strategies to defend from being taken over by overpowering bot networks.

Topics cover everything from career development, to project management, to programming practices.

Top 100 most influential people in IT—numbers 25-1.

Storage | Security | Infrastructure | CIO | Channel | Mobile & Wireless | Desktop/Notebook/Printer