Today's CISO plays a pivotal role not only in defining technical standards and security policies, but also in assuring customers of the security of their data and validating security controls to regulators. Many are struggling with this transition because they have been given these responsibilities without any real authority or visibility within their organizations. They also need a new set of skills to successfully fulfill their responsibilities.

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

If there was any question about whether the ERP market was in turmoil, the recent shakeup in senior management at ERP stalwart SAP that pushed out rising star Shai Agassi should have answered it. The shakeup at usually sedate SAP underscored the frayed nerves in the corporate boardroom of many leading ERP vendors, as technologies such as SOA and Web services enable enterprises to turn to smaller vendors and service providers who can deliver applications that meet their demands for speed, flexibility, and low overhead.

When Mark Alperin went looking to replace his aging ERP system in 2006, he found himself in the same place as many CIOs of midsize companies - not feeling terribly sought after by software vendors who prioritize large enterprise accounts, and facing few choices. Alperin serves as COO with CIO responsibilities for Vertex Distribution, a manufacturer and distributor of rivets, screws and other fasteners. He wasn't happy with the two main packages for his industry, from Activant Solutions and Microsoft (neither of which he was using, nor did he want to use).

As long as they're meeting their regulatory reporting deadlines, most enterprises don't think a lot about closing their books more quickly.

Maybe they should start.

Increasingly, the speed with which an organization closes its books and reports its financial results is being looked at by practitioners, analysts and investors as a defining metric for evaluating whether the organization possesses the best possible processes and enabling technologies. And it turns out that many companies don't, even those making huge IT investments and supporting equally large IT departments.

For all businesses, growth is a good thing. More sales, more customers, more demand, more revenue. But growth has a funny way of exposing inefficiencies by shining a harsh light on wasteful, entrenched business practices, loosely stitched together by siloed IT systems, that lead to high operational costs and act as roadblocks to real change.

In all the world's religious cultures, particularly the most extreme, every adherent knows exactly what constitutes acceptable behaviour. There is usually a rigid hierarchy, and everyone shares a language, set of ideas and beliefs, customs, taboos, codes, rituals and ceremonies. Typically, the culture was defined so long ago that no living person has any real idea how the habits and practices now considered the norm evolved. And typically, that does not matter one whit, because everyone knows what they need to know: if they move beyond those norms they will be ostracized.

Ronald Reagan once famously said: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'" Inside the government itself, the most terrifying words in the English language may be: "The information security office is here to facilitate your office's goals and objectives."

As governments around the world grapple with IT security, the US National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has released a brief on making the business case for sustainable IT security funding.

As the government pledges a $200 million airport security plan, one company is warning of another pressing need: the adoption of knowledge-based technology for name recognition.

Radio Frequency Identification has the potential to revolutionize logistics, but first it must overcome its reputation as an intrusive technology.