business issues - News, Features, and Slideshows

Features

• Six questions raised by Oracle's Q2 earnings announcement

  Oracle's second-quarter earnings announcement beat expectations in some respects, but also raised a number of interesting and in some cases, unanswered questions. Here's a look.

• 11 predictions for enterprise software in 2013

  The end of each year sparks an occasion for rumination on the past, as well as a longing gaze into the future. We shined up our crystal ball, rubbed our chin for a while, and sought opinions from industry analysts on what the future holds for the enterprise software market.

• Top 12 IT Career Stories of 2012

  The holidays are here again and with them come presents, resolutions and a time to reflect. With that in mind, here's a look back at the most popular career stories and tips of 2012.

• IT Outsourcing Year in Review: Grading Our Predictions

  At this time last year, we predicted that 2012 would be the year cloud computing hype ended. We said application development would migrate from offshore to cities stateside. And we forecasted that IT service providers would become more relationship-oriented. Now it's time to see how those predictions panned out.

• BYOD planning and costs: Everything you need to know

  Bring Your Own Device programs promise to remove the cost of smartphones from a company's balance sheet. But most companies transitioning from company-issued smartphones to BYOD aren't even breaking even.

• 2012: The year in quotes

  Some of the most memorable IT-related quotes were uttered in courtrooms this year, which involved a steady stream of legal challenges about intellectual property. In no particular order, these are some of the comments that stuck with us as 2012 winds to a close.

• The scariest US software project horror stories of 2012

  Sure, plenty of enterprise software projects go just fine and end up giving customers all the things vendors promise: lower operating costs, streamlined operations and happier users.

• Dell's acquisitions not yet paying dividends

  Dell's effort to move away from PCs into enterprise products has been slow as the company battles a challenging economy and tries to weave together acquisitions in a coherent manner.

• IT Is Increasing Efficiency but Failing to Drive Business Growth

  A study by Juniper Networks and the Economist Business Unit finds that IT is succeeding at improving the efficiency of business processes, but most IT departments are failing to take the next step in becoming a strategic partner for business.

• Analyst, SAP dispute over reported support discounts reveals murky picture

  SAP and a financial analyst are at loggerheads over a recent report by the analyst, which said that a handful of customers had received substantial discounts on their software maintenance renewals.

• Tips for Leaving Your Job the Right Way

  Who hasn't wanted to throw up their hands and just walk out of the office? Don't do it. Learn the proper etiquette for leaving your job and ensure that your career and reputation remain intact after you leave your current position.

• HP-Autonomy fraud allegations fallout: The winners and losers

  Hewlett-Packard's bombshell revelation that it would take a US$8.8 billion non-cash writedown after allegedly discovering major accounting fraud related to its Autonomy business unit has rocked the tech world.

• How to Hire, Manage and Even Appreciate Millennial IT Workers

  A recent survey reveals that hiring managers are far more likely to hire IT pros from Generation-X or baby-boomers than they are to hire from the millennial generation. Find out what's behind this trend and why you have to learn to stop worrying and love millennials.

• Florida CIO Takes Election to the Cloud

  On election night, as the rest of us again wondered what was going wrong in Florida, the CIO of Florida's Department of State had a different perspective: He was bearing witness to the successful culmination of 17 months of hard work.

• CIOs Give Vendors Low Marks on Partnership

  A new index from the CIO Executive Council rates IT suppliers on 20 characteristics of truly strategic partners