• Salesforce.com shakes up Standard support plan features

  Salesforce.com has made a series of changes to its support services that include the removal of certain features from the Standard tier, but which the company says overall will provide a better experience for customers.

• SAP community portal launch date still unclear due to bugs

  Serious technical problems that have delayed the rollout of an upgrade to SAP's community portal are persisting, to the point where the company is no longer specifying a launch date.

• Infor revamps support services, heightens competition against SAP, Oracle

  Infor has rebranded and revamped its software support offerings in a bid to cement its profile as a potential alternative to rivals like SAP and Oracle.

• 12 effective habits of indispensible IT pros

  How do you keep your job -- or get a better one -- in an era when hiring is in a freeze and budgets are perpetually squeezed? Follow these 12 maxims and find out.

• Lawsuit claims Epicor's two-year effort delivered 'useless' software

  Beverage distributor Major Brands is suing Epicor, alleging the ERP (enterprise resource planning) software vendor failed to deliver a satisfactory system after years of effort and significant cost overruns, and then offered a solution that would force the company to install a new version that hadn't yet been completed, pushing back the original "go-live" date by four years.

• With thick skin, Google CIO finds job rewarding

  When Ben Fried left his post as IT managing director at Morgan Stanley and took over as Google's CIO in May 2008, he knew what he was getting into: supporting a user base full of technology experts and computer industry stars, like co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt and Vice President Vint Cerf. In a recent interview with IDG News Service, Fried spoke candidly about his job and shared tips and advice for fellow CIOs, including the urgent need for tablet device strategies. An edited transcript of the interview follows.

• Wikis that work: Four IT departments get it right

  When you're one of just two technology managers tasked with supporting a geographically dispersed user base, any kind of self-help technology that takes the burden off IT is welcomed with open arms. That's why Ernest Kayinamura of Enel North America and his lone counterpart have actively embraced wikis as a way to make IT materials more accessible to the end users they support.

• Economy puts IT into penny-pinching mode

  With the economy struggling and financial markets in a state of chaos, this is becoming a hard time to be an IT manager.

• US innovation: On the skids

  It would be hard to exaggerate the angst that has gripped the US in recent months as the election nears, markets churn and assets melt. But the headlines that have made us dread picking up the newspaper mask a long-term problem that may shape the future of America more than John McCain's plan for Iraq, Barack Obama's health care ideas or Uncle Sam's heroic efforts to rescue the economy.

• Dear Mr. President: Let's talk tech

  Science and technology may not have been the focus of the recent debates between presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama, but both candidates have outlined some broad policy proposals and goals. That's a good thing, because, as some of the top technology thinkers in the United States today recently shared with Computerworld, the next president will have to tackle the country's ongoing decline in global technological competitiveness.

Whitepapers about it strategy

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  Small businesses are especially vulnerable to computer viruses and lost or stolen data, since they typically lack the IT resources to deal with these threats. Inadequately protected computers open the door to annoying infections, or worse, serious business disruption. Below are five simple and effective strategies to help you protect your business against an ever-increasing number of threats.

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  A Universal Approach to Greater File System Efficiency

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  Automation Makes Perfect: Taking the Time Crunch Out of IT Compliance with Automation