Forget all the discussion about IT outsourcing providers moving up the technology value chain to become partners in innovation; their customers' biggest needs remain much more straightforward, according to the results of the IDG Enterprise Outsourcing & Service Providers Survey. (CIO.com is an IDG company.)
You've heard the Gen Y stereotypes before: They're lazy workers, exude entitlement and have been reared on social technologies that they bring into the workplace, whether IT departments like it or not.
Emerging IT roles for application developers, IT-business hybrids, cloud vendor managers and data masters signal a profound shift in the IT unit's value proposition. (For more about emerging roles in IT, see " Four Kinds of IT Professionals CIOs Need to Hire Now.")
If you are happy with Windows 7 on your personal laptop, but grumble every time Windows XP boots up on your work computer, it may be time to tap your company's IT pro on the shoulder and ask for Windows 7. You might be surprised at the response you get.