Features

• Intel may look to outrun foundry competitors with new CEO Krzanich

  Intel hasn't signaled a change in strategy with the appointment of Brian Krzanich to CEO, but it is likely that the company will take steps to outrun its foundry competition by opening its industry-leading manufacturing facilities to more third parties.

• Questions SAP should answer during its Q4 earnings call

  As it has in the past, SAP spilled the beans a bit early on its fourth-quarter and year-end performance with the release of preliminary results last week. Now the vendor is about to do a full announcement along with the usual conference calls with press and analysts.

• The end of an extraordinary life: Aaron Swartz

  I had already submitted my last column when I heard about Aaron Swartz's death. Some might say that it's too late to comment on this story since the crowd has moved on, but it's never too late to write about someone you knew.

• 2012: The year in quotes

  Some of the most memorable IT-related quotes were uttered in courtrooms this year, which involved a steady stream of legal challenges about intellectual property. In no particular order, these are some of the comments that stuck with us as 2012 winds to a close.

• HP-Autonomy fraud allegations fallout: The winners and losers

  Hewlett-Packard's bombshell revelation that it would take a US$8.8 billion non-cash writedown after allegedly discovering major accounting fraud related to its Autonomy business unit has rocked the tech world.

• Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs?

  Stop me if you've heard this one: Steve Jobs is taking another medical leave from Apple.

• The world according to Michael Arrington

  Ah, AOL -- just when it looked like you were about to slip into boring mediocrity, you surprise us yet again with your antics.

• Did HP board have hidden agenda in removing Hurd?

  By now everyone knows that HP CEO Mark Hurd was forced to resign following an investigation into an alleged sexual harassment scandal.

• It takes a quality IT group to deliver good yogurt

  IT infrastructure and services are not the first things to come to mind when you think of Danone Group, the US$3.5 billion company known for its Evian water and Dannon and Stonyfield yogurt brands. But when it comes to packaging and delivering water and yogurt, IT services and the automation they provide are indispensable.

• The new commodity: Long hours and hard work

  We dread hearing the news that something once considered unique or innovative has turned into a commodity, where the only differentiator is price. We especially don't like it when that transformation happens in our own careers -- when a prized skill becomes so ubiquitous that it can be had for pennies on the dollar. We might as well admit that this shift has happened to another treasured asset: our ability to solve any problem by simply whipping ourselves into a coffee-drenched frenzy and working harder.

• Five outside-the-box ways to cut IT costs

  Every time the economy turns downward, IT shops take a hit.

• Surviving the tech manager's global squeeze

  It's the new reality of IT: working as part of a global team, with coworker and outsourcers all over the world, coordinated by a project manager at headquarters. But that reality can be ugly, as managers are stretched across time zones, with no such thing as being off the clock. Work quality, commitment, and communications vary considerably, putting the burden on the manager caught in the middle to make it all work -- from thousands of miles away.

• Famous tech myths that just won't die

  Have you heard this story?

• Angry IT workers: A ticking time bomb?

  It was 9:30 on the morning of March 4, 2002, and something was terribly wrong at the offices of PaineWebber UBS. Computers in branches all over the country began showing disc errors. A logic bomb buried deep within the machines had wiped their hard drives clean, preventing 17,000 brokers from making trades.

• 20 more IT mistakes to avoid

  Back in 2004, InfoWorld's then-CTO Chad Dickerson polled the best and brightest to reveal 20 IT mistakes that were surefire recipes for cost overruns, missed deadlines, and in some cases, lost jobs.