Stories by Alan S. Horowitz

You can't always guess what they want

A fast-growing part of Ken Erdner's IT group was running out of office space, so he moved them into a new area separate from the rest of the department. But Erdner failed to ask the employees what they thought, and that proved to be a mistake. He thought it was going to be a comfortable and productive space; the group felt isolated and resentful.

Social Software makes critical business connections.

Headhunter Matt Ocken was looking for references recently for a vice president of engineering he was considering recruiting for a client. He knew of a CIO at one of the companies on the candidate's resume, but he couldn't get the man to return his calls. Then he tried Visible Path, social networking software his firm had implemented four months before. In no time, he had the needed reference.

You can't always guess what they want

A fast-growing part of Ken Erdner's IT group was running out of office space, so he moved them into a new area separate from the rest of the department. But Erdner failed to ask the employees what they thought, and that proved to be a mistake. He was going for comfortable and productive; the group felt isolated and resentful.

Grating expectations

The IT project was a success. It was on time and on budget, and it did what it was supposed to. The only problem: The customer wasn't happy.

Finish feud

Few areas in business create more sparks, conflict and frustration than the interplay between tech support and its customers. Expectations on both sides are often unrealistic, and appreciating each other's position is tough. Here are some tips to help take the sting out of the help desk/customer relationship.

802.11i shores up wireless security

The inadequacy of the Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol has delayed widespread adoption of wireless LANs in many corporations. While most network administrators and end users understand the productivity benefits of cutting the Ethernet cord, most worry about the risk of doing so.

Feature: Snake pit or gold mine?

The market for CIOs isn't what it used to be. "Times are poor, and the market is kind of soft," notes Rick Schoenhals, senior director for IT for the National Football League's Denver Broncos. The temptation is great to jump at any decent-sounding offer. Stop. Not every job offer thrown your way should be caught. How can a CIO know which offers are worth serious consideration and which should be given a pass? Here are 10 points to consider when analyzing an offer:

Singing for Themselves

While it's not unusual for an employee to think some customers are stupid, few say so to customers directly. But Vivek Wadhwa, CEO of Relativity Technologies Inc. in Cary, N.C., has twice had to apologize during the past few years to customers who have endured developers calling them "stupid" right to their face.