Stories by: Darren Horrigan

It is said that the best business leaders know EI is the killer app.

Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence.

Imagine your four-year-old self in a room with an adult who offers you a marshmallow. As you reach for the sweet, she says if you wait while she runs an errand, you can have two when she returns. She departs, and leaves behind the marshmallow. Do you weaken, or hold out for double the treat? Psychologists would have us believe that the children who sit tight are showing early signs of high achievement in later life. They say the ability to delay gratification is a master skill; a triumph of reason over impulse. Some claim such self-control is one of the five elements of superior emotional intelligence, a main ingredient of leadership.

CIO spoke to many sharp people for this article; people who have been there, done that. Their collective and unmistakable message is that business is essentially about people. The irony is that this is the first thing people forget.

Tony Joyner has seen it all when it comes to negotiating outsourcing contracts. Joyner is a partner at law firm Freehills, where, as a senior member of its national projects team, he advises some of Australia’s biggest companies. His mantra: Negotiate fairly, be vigilant and keep everybody happy. If only it was that easy.

Joanne Stubbs, the CIO at Bakers Delight, does not believe there is such a thing as a global outsourcing trend.

Part 2 of CIO Australia's outsourcing series.

India remains the jewel in the outsourcing crown but CIOs are beginning to look to other destinations in a bid to ensure competitive pricing and service.

Documents are the lifeblood of many organisations and of most governments. Each transaction or contact culminates in a document, file, or record of some description — an email, tweet, blog, video, fax, form, photograph or report that chronicles an everyday conversation, weekly bulletin, quarterly statement or annual announcement. But no matter what the content is or how you manage it, failure is not an option. CIOs know that in a world that demands records be maintained for seven years, it is possible to live with some information disarray, but not information chaos. And given the high cost of paper storage, electronic solutions are now essential.

Considering a move to Google Apps in your enterprise? Some things to consider.