Stories about: Northwest Airlines

It's that time of year again -- time to look back and offer my 2009 awards for the most malicious, obnoxious, offensive, or nonsensical behavior in technology. The 10 winners this year include some of the best-known companies on the planet, as well as some obscure but worthy candidates.

The tasks in Laef Olson’s working hours can be rather varied. Olson, who is the CIO at Software-as-a-Service vendor RightNow Technologies is on the one hand responsible for IT security and the organisation’s information systems, while on the other he spruiks the strategy and vision for the company's on-demand hosting platform. On many occasions Olson gets a direct audience with company CIOs. What makes it easier for Olson to get traction to the upper levels of management is his past. He has been group vice president of global technology operations of Travelport and Orbitz Worldwide. And before that CTO of cars.com. In these roles he was also a consumer of SaaS products. It is that experience that he uses to relate to customers when on the road. Olson briefly stopped over in Australia last month where CIO Magazine asked him about the maturity of SaaS.

Companies like Wal-Mart, Exxon Mobil and the makers of Motrin have all learned the hard way that online assaults from external users on Web 2.0 sites like Facebook and Twitter can damage their brands.

Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist branch, told the BBC that the surveillance involved in foiling the plot to blow up trans-Atlantic planes had been "unprecedented".

Five years ago, almost half of AG Edwards's IT projects were late and over budget. Now it boasts an 88 percent project success rate. How did it do that? By galvanizing IT, reinventing its PMO, and relying on a standard framework to track projects and create accountability

Nearly half of all CIOs use offshore providers today, and two-thirds plan to send work overseas next year, according to US-based Forrester Research. India is still the leader, but as more companies seek to source globally, more countries are emerging to benefit from that demand - each with its own particular strengths and weaknesses.

Tired of always being short on IT workers? Follow the lead of CIOs who are coping with the shortage in imaginative ways