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The article focuses on changes in the business processes which includes need for speed, customization and need to balance government regulations with industry standards which are creating complications in daily working. It presents the views of Mark Moroses, chief information officer (CIO) of a real estate development firm, Continuum regarding changing business processes. INSETS: The New Face of IT;Turning The Tables.

The article offers information on the comments by IT executive in Aspen Skiing Co. Paul Major. He states that the game-changer is the sheer amount of demand on IT for new technologies that don't follow the normal trajectory of IT. He states that, ordinary end users can tap the power of the cloud to get what they want if they think IT is slow or unresponsive. Surging demand for new mobile, social and advanced analytics tools is adding to IT's already full plate of traditional enterprise system.

The article offers information on the importance internal development programs which can improve the abilities of chief information officer (CIO) in tackling company issues in the U.S. Andrew Macaulay, vice president of Clearwire Communications LLC, has emphasized stakeholder management, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence and leadership development for telecommunication services. Kumud Kalia, CIO of Direct Energy, encouraged information technology executives to participate webinars.

The article offers tips on recognizing and proposing business change in a way that gets results. It discusses the views of several experts including Charles Beard, chief information officer at Science Applications International Corp., Bogdan Butoi, director of sales operations at Animas Corp., and Ron Bonig, vice president at George Washington University. Topics include business strategy, transformational change proposals, and issues related to business profitability. It also discusses updates on project briefings and program status updates.

The article reports on the challenges faced by the U.S.-based information technology (IT) company Google Inc. as it reaches its 10th year in the business. It says that one of the main challenges of Google is to foster technology innovation and draw the necessary talent that start-ups can attract. Moreover, it mentions the child-care fiasco that made the company's executives question the sense of entitlement it had created among employees. According to engineering director Craig Neville-Manning, Google is doing its best to meet the challenges facing growing organizations.

The article focuses on the database policy implemented by the East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina to organize its stored data. The university had set retention and purging policies for electronic mails, medical records and security video footage and then archived these data on a new system that employs Symantec Corp.'s Enterprise Vault storage management software and EMC Corp.'s Centera content-addressed storage array. Moreover, its security video is archived for only 30 days. Some of the problems encountered concerning the purging of data are discussed. INSET: ARCHIVING IS ON THE RISE.

The article focuses on the issue on information overloading. Basex Inc. asserts that disruptions caused by electronic mail and text messages cost organizations billions of dollars in lower productivity and hindered innovation. Some people use technology to fight information overload, while others suggest taking control over how much they allow themselves to be exposed to. Chief information officer Jeff Saper of Robinson Lerer & Montgomery LLC uses aggregators to battle information overload. David Newman, an analyst at Gartner Inc. claims that information overload is not going away, and businesses will need to find ways to deal with it.

The article reports on the need to improve information sharing among law enforcement organizations in the U.S. Agencies share information on criminals and arrest records with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), however, the incident reports which detail the crimes and considered as the lifeblood of the investigation remain isolated in thousands of federal, state, county and local management systems. Public safety program director Dan Hawkins states that 75% of police agencies use automated systems to store those records, yet, only less than 25% of those systems are capable of sharing the information. An overview on the $85 million National Data Exchange (N-Dex) back-end system project is presented. Chart on law enforcement databases is also presented.

The article reports on the increase of the information technology (IT) professional salaries for fiscal 2007 after its sudden drop in 2002 in the U.S. Didi Raizen as IT applications manager at Flatiron Construction Corp. stated that she is happy with the 8% increase she received for 2007 having received 3% to $5 raises for the past few years. It is also noted that higher percentage of IT professionals such as Jeff Blackmon are satisfied with their 57% compensation compared to 54% in 2006. Moreover, Don Gillet, director of information at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research triangle Park, affirmed that people who continue to work in IT are those who have a professional interest and not those who just want to make a big salary.

The article focuses on disaster recovery in the computer industry in the U.S. The author asserted that planning for disaster recovery is one of the easier things an information technology (IT) manager should do. Companies are reaching out to external parties for help with disaster recovery planning and hot sites to which computer processing can be moved quickly in an emergency. Moreover, Schneider National Inc. contracted a service provider for a disaster recovery hot site. However, they decided to set up own second data center serve as a recovery facility. INSET: A Contrarian View.

The article discusses issues related to efforts to build the next-generation data center in the U.S. There are several challenges facing companies in the successful management of the next-generation data center. These major challenges include the lack of storage virtualization storage and the immaturity of the technology and multitiered or service-oriented applications. Another big problem is looking deep within complex, multitiered or service-oriented applications to see what hardware or software is causing a slowdown. INSET: Data Center Technologies: What's Next?.

The article focuses on the evolution of data centers in the U.S. The next-generation data center, dubbed lights-out data center, is moving away from maintenance-and-repair model to the orchestrate-and-prevent move. In lights-out data centers systems largely management themselves and smaller core of information technology personnel focuses on improving the data center's ability to drive innovation and enhance the business. The are a number technologies, such as virtualization and automation, that hold significant promise in changing the economics of the data center. INSET: CIOs Feel the Heat.

The article focuses on the importance of encryption on information storage management. Encryption has gained popularity at present because of its significance in protecting data from unauthorized users. Companies are exploring encryption because of the threat of losing data. A successful encryption plan involves identifying the right data to encrypt, choosing only the encryption technologies needed, and managing encryption effectively. One type of encryption is library-based tape encryption, which is useful in protecting intellectual property. INSETS: Encryption Decrypted;How Long Will It Be Safe?;Have a Key-Recovery Plan.

The article reports on the move by several information technology industries to use public Internet as the primary network connection in the U.S. The Internet has become the main access point for data entry, e-mail and other internal functions. Dough Hill, associate technical fellow and network chief architect at the Boeing Co. in Chicago, states that the Internet is improving in its performance and in its price point. Making use of the Internet cuts companies' operating costs due to the absence of traffic during exchange transactions. INSETS: A Better Internet;CARRIERS PREPARE FOR VoIP MOVE;CARRIERS IN CHAOS;THE QUEST FOR GLOBAL QoS

Presents information on the careers of information systems managers in the United States. Background information on Ralph Szygenda, chief information officer at General Motors Corporation; Views of Irene Dec, vice president of Prudential Insurance Company of America; Job responsibilities of Charles Baumann, vice president of information technology at Cigna Integratedcare company.

Comments on the impact of systems downtime on information systems resources. Importance of prompt response of server vendors; Statistics on satisfaction levels; Performance of on-site support; Cost of systems support. INSET: Highlights of the survey.

Focuses on the problems associated with hiring qualified information systems (IS) professionals. Information on a `ComputerWorld' annual hiring survey; What IS managers are looking for when hiring staff; Reference to an experience encountered by Hank Reeves, information systems manager at Fruit of the Loom Incorporated in relation to hiring IS professionals. INSET: Retention deficit disorders.