Stories by Megan Santosus

Two days of rain may have wreaked havoc with the 2011 US Open tennis tournament schedule, but clouds of another sort are coming up aces for the United States Tennis Association (USTA).

A study released by Stanford University professor Jonathan Koomey pegs growth in energy use among US data centers at 36 per cent from 2005 to 2010 - which is slower than some had predicted but nonetheless significant.

When Bill McCown joined The Situs Companies six years ago, the Houston-based real estate consulting firm was anticipating growth, and the company figured its tape-based backup systems would need to be upgraded. Then came September 2008, when Hurricane Ike slammed into Houston.

Now that summer is in full swing, it's natural for IT shops to be concerned about keeping their data centers cool. But with limited budgets, keeping the data center operating efficiently without blowing the utility bill out of the water can be a challenge.

End-user developers are everywhere. The key is getting them to work for you

Once again, it behoves CIOs to reward their star performers. But how will they do it? Cutting bonus cheques would be the wrong answer.

Recent elections have highlighted flaws in US voting procedures and prompted a push to apply IT to the casting and counting of votes. Critics worry the government is going from bad to worse in adopting the new technology without working out all the bugs

Even though the importance of IT is continually reaffirmed, CIOs insist on questioning their role

CIOs need to learn to tailor messages to the decision-makers they're addressing

IT employees are different. Here’s how to lead them

Recent evidence shows that multitasking is an enormous waste of your time and your company's money.

You don't have to do anything to retain employees when they have nowhere to go. But doing nothing now will lead to problems tomorrow

Companies seeking more efficiency and tighter monitoring of IT projects are opening project management offices in growing numbers. But don't expect a quick fix, easy metrics or an immediate payback

While for CIOs the boom times of multiple job offers and stock options that would make King Midas jealous are over, that doesn't mean you can't land a new job with a swell compensation package.

Train your employees - especially newly minted executives - in the fine art of people skills