Quite frankly, I'm not a fan of cloudy weather. As a redhead with curls, clouds mean dampness and frizz, and something sleek and well defined turns into a nebulous hairball. Something sleek and well defined: now there's a laudable ambition for CIOs struggling with legacy, ERP, CRM, limited bandwidth and capacity. Most enterprises are still struggling to achieve that degree of integration, never mind incorporating Web 2.0, commercialising it effectively, and protecting brand.

New product development is an imperative for enterprises of every stripe, and because it is of critical importance, it provides an opportunity for CIOs to show that they are business leaders and for IT departments to show that they are well aligned with enterprise goals.

Users should choose and manage their own PCs.

Just as all politics is local, all business is now online. Even if you don't offer e-commerce, customers and critics will be talking about you online anyway. Here's how to cope.

Software as a service (SaaS) has gone beyond the realm of rogue deployments, and CRM software, most notably Salesforce.com, has led the way through the enterprise front door

OpenOffice.org's biggest foe may be Microsoft Office, but critics say the open-source organization has, from its inception, also been one of its application suite's own worst enemies -- a victim of a development culture that differs radically from the open-source norm. Observers now wonder if IBM's entry into OpenOffice.org can make the necessary changes.

Can you imagine an IT environment without applications to roll out? You're going to have to if Google's plan to conquer the enterprise works

The US health insurance industry is one of the more difficult economic sectors in which to compete. Even as health insurance premiums continue to increase at double digit rates, the stock prices of the largest health insurers have dropped by a third or more this year as rising medical costs take a bigger bite out of their revenue. Meanwhile many insurers are criticized for cutting back on coverage and customer service, while they continue to spend heavily to comply with federal health information privacy laws.

Smart CIOs are experimenting with new Web-based technologies to integrate their customer data applications without having to rip out their legacy systems. But before they plunge into the implementation, they need to craft a data management strategy

With a corded phone clutched in one hand and a spatula in the other, the man gazes anxiously at a piece of meat sizzling on his stove. He's on the line with his credit card company, but instead of speaking with a live human, he's stuck in a series of automated prompts. Even as his dinner bursts into flames, he's unwilling to let go of his phone for fear he'll miss a chance to speak with the next available agent. He tries to put out his flaming dinner with a broom, only to have the broom catch fire.

RBC Royal Bank is one of the few companies that actually gets it. Here's how the bank has grown its market share by courting specific customer segments, such as retired snowbirds and future doctors