Stories by: Keith Power

Because IT support is integral to almost all financial and nonfinancial activities, the guys in the green eyeshades are now gunning for the IT group. Prepare to answer more questions in more detail than ever before.

Whether it's business or personal, no relationship survives in the long term when one side's the clear winner and the other the loser

If truth is the first casualty of war, training, it would seem, is the first casualty of an economic downturn. For while the ongoing training of one's IT professionals may seem like an investment in an organisation's future and even a strategic necessity given the pace of technological change, according to Gartner research director Steve Bittinger, education and training services are not a high priority for many organisations

Nurturing a corporate culture that supports your business goals is an ongoing, painstaking process. But if you don’t invest the effort, you could be short-changing your company’s bottom line.

Strategic planning seems to have taken a bit of a holiday in recent times, especially in the private sector where many listed companies are so concerned about their future that they do not bother to think beyond the next quarter results. However, according to John Smyrk, a strategic planning consultant and principal of Sigma Management Sciences, it is a mistake to think of "strategic" purely in terms of time frames.

International expansion into the US and Europe had resulted in a host of different platforms in the three regions - all unable to communicate with each other. It was clear Cochlear needed a new global IT infrastructure with a common application and architecture across its operations.

According to the 2002 Australian Computer Crime and Security Survey, 70 per cent of Australian organisations increased their expenditure on information security in the 12 months prior to the study being conducted. The survey was produced jointly by AusCERT, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and the NSW Police Service, and its findings may well reflect how prominent security has become in the minds of chief executives and boards, especially since September 11, 2001. However, to be effective the right person, at the right level in the organisation, needs to be in charge of information and systems security, and this has not always been the case.

Much has been written about the supposed "disconnect" between IT executives and CEOs. "An acute state of misunderstanding caused by differences in training, temperament and tradition," is how Charles Wang, founder and then chief executive of Computer Associates described it in his book Techno Vision (McGraw-Hill, 1994).

Since gracing the cover of CIO magazine in October 1998, Michael Young has undergone title, role and responsibility changes, followed by a change in company and industry. However, while Young's 10-year career at CIO level has been synonymous with change, his forthright views, especially on the relationship between IT and business, remain constant

Offshore outsourcing is no longer an emerging trend - it's a regular practice for some companies. But what makes the difference between sinking and swimming when you send key projects overseas?