The steady influx and slow acceptance of mobile devices and apps in the workplace has liberated users once locked into Blackberrys and Windows laptops. But with this new freedom comes a burden on IT to manage and secure devices and apps.

Companies are on the path to cloud adoption. According to a recent report, 28% of U.S. organizations are using cloud computing today, with 73% reporting their first step was implementation of a single cloud application. Yet while 84% of organizations say they have employed at least one cloud application, most do not yet self-identify as "cloud users" who are "implementing or maintaining cloud computing."

-- Name: Ann E. Ziegler

Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty, a raft of third-quarter earnings reports this week from some of the biggest players in IT showed that while tech sales remain strong overall, there are some weak spots that are stirring concerns among market watchers.

In IT's never-ending search for efficiency improvements, client virtualization and its subsets -- presentation, application and desktop virtualization -- must be considered.