What CIOs Should Know About Cisco’s UCS Platform

With UCS, Cisco aims to capture a larger share of your data-center budget. Here’s why that matters—and why it doesn’t.

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CFOs Hesitant to Invest in Cloud: Strategist

Investment in cloud computing may be hindered by CFOs who are hesitant to allocate funding to SaaS projects, says a technology strategist.

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Which Apps Should You Move to the Cloud? 5 Guidelines

SaaS and cloud-based applications are richer and more customizable than ever, but not every app delivers good ROI when moved to the cloud. These five pieces of advice will help you think comprehensively about IT strategy and whether an application is suited for the cloud.

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Inside American Eagle Outfitter's 8-Day Website Nightmare

This e-tailer just suffered an unprecedented site outage--at the start of the crucial back-to-school season. Would your disaster-recovery plans and backup systems fare any better?

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You Are Not Your Vendor

It’s too risky to commit to any technology platform, whether it’s Windows or BlackBerrys. Keeping your business competitive requires flexibility.

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Mission Impossible: Judging TCO of Enterprise Software Upgrades

Irregular timing. Business disruption. Endless "options." These are just three reasons that enterprise application upgrades remain a "wild card" business scenario for companies, says Forrester's Paul Hamerman--so you'd better understand the key issues.

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How IT Sourcing Group Can Win Influence with Business

Forrester's survey of IT buyers reveals that most want to have more influence earlier in the software selection process, but don't know how to make that happen. Here's advice on how to change the business perception of what IT can deliver in this process.

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8 Ways to Keep Your Best Workers on Board

The organizations honored as Best Places to Work are vastly different in many ways, but they tend to share an ability to keep their most productive people on board. While there's never a good time to neglect retention, doing so now may prove to be especially costly. With economic conditions beginning to improve, some organizations are looking to increase staffing levels. And as job opportunities proliferate, IT professionals will be more likely to consider moving to a new employer. Businesses that don't address this looming challenge will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage.

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Seize the Chance to Build a Better Workplace

The Great Recession left in its wake scores of vastly overworked employees with severely reduced benefits and dramatically decreased career opportunities. But while rebuilding will require plenty of hard work, there's also a silver lining.

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Starbucks CIO Brewing Up Much More than Free Wi-Fi

CIO Stephen Gillett is no plain old IT order-taker. He's leading a new group developing even more in-store tech offerings--and delivering what CEOs want most from CIOs: strategic innovation.

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One Company's Switch from BlackBerry to iPhone: New OS is Key

Apple's upcoming mobile OS offers a lot for enterprises, but adoption takes time. Here's a look inside Varian Medical's ongoing efforts to deploy iPhones around the world.

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When Vendor Research Collides: Whom to Believe?

SAP's Solution Manager product is either an overly complex beast or an IT staffing savior with amazing ROI. The answer depends on whose research you trust.

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Going Global? Check Your Software for Unicode Characters

Ensuring business systems support Unicode characters can ease entry for U.S. companies into global markets.

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Social Media Safety: Acceptable-Use Policies Are Critical

Allowing access to social networking sites can open businesses up to a plethora of security risks. The key to success, Forrester Research says, is a strong acceptable use policy. Here's how to craft one.

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5 Hot IT Topics: 5 Must-Read Books

Staying on top of all the new innovations, strategies and directions in today's IT world can be mindboggling. That's where a great IT library can help, filled with the latest and greatest guidebooks on all the hot IT topics you need to put your arms around in your company's constantly morphing technology environment.

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