Stories by Stacy Collett

Sizing up open source: Not so simple

Choosing open-source software is more complicated than picking traditional software. Is your IT department prepared to contribute code fixes to the community?

Straight talk on security gets employees to listen -- and comply

Sure, you want users to comply with security edicts, but would you phish your own employees or share your company's hack history? At least some CIOs say yes.

Ready, set, compete: The benefits of IT innovation

Welcome to 2013. As IT budgets loosen up and new projects get queued up, IT is learning to quickly tap into creative ideas for competitive advantage in a cutthroat marketplace.

How to talk security so people will listen (and comply!)

Sure you want users to comply with security edicts, but would you phish your own employees or share your company's hack history? At least some CIOs say yes. Insider (registration required)

Storage systems get supersized

Old storage architectures with general-purpose controllers that service all the new functions along with the normal I/O workload won't be able to scale. Here's why storage systems will need to become full-scale storage computers. Insider (registration required)

Best Places spotlight: Boeing staffers explore multiple IT roles

IT staffers rotate through various tech specialties and team up with business partners at the No. 84-ranked organization on our 2012 Best Places to Work in IT list.

Wide-Open Search

Twitter, Facebook, the Library of Congress -- all of these institutions have mind-numbing amounts of structured and unstructured data that must be indexed and searched quickly. In Twitter's case, that's about 300 million new pieces of information to index every day.

Techies work harder as benefits go bust

"Richard," a 40-year-old IT architect, felt like his career path had reached its end at the financial services company where he'd worked for seven years. In a shaky economy, he was grateful to have a job at all, but when his employer eliminated matching funds in his 401(k) plan, as well as its profit-sharing program -- which usually put an extra $1,000 in his pocket each year -- he knew he had to go.

Who Holds the Keys?

Encryption can make up for a litany of security snafus -- from a bad firewall to an unrelenting hacker to a lost laptop. Once data is encrypted, criminals can't use or sell it. Plus, if encrypted data goes missing, companies are protected from disclosure requirements in most states. No wonder 38% of companies surveyed by Forrester Research have already adopted full-disk encryption technology. But data protection doesn't stop there. Encryption keys and digital rights also must be well orchestrated and secured, or else encryption protection goes out the window.

Premier 100 IT Leader profile: Puneet Bhasin

Waste Management may be in the business of managing and reducing waste, but it's really a transportation and logistics company with 20,000 trucks driving 100,000 routes daily, according to Puneet Bhasin, 49, senior vice president and CIO.

Premier 100 IT Leader profile: Mario Leone

Technology departments prefer to handle projects one at a time.

Premier 100 IT Leader profile: James Robertson

In today's 24/7 news cycle, reporters at media outlets use all kinds of wireless gadgets to gather and report news and communicate with the newsroom.

Premier 100 IT Leader profile: Sanjay Mirchandani

When touting their company's products, EMC sales reps often get this question from prospective customers: "Do you guys use your own stuff?"

Premier 100 IT Leader profile: Dan Traynor

Overhauling an IT infrastructure is never easy, but winning over IT staff and business units with an ambitious plan can be nearly impossible.

IT staffers shed 1,500 pounds

With his 50th birthday looming at the end of July in 2010, Frederick Curiel knew he had to lose weight. But as with many IT professionals, the demands of his job had put diet and exercise on the back burner.