Brian P. Watson

CIOs have been talking about it for years, decades even–preaching alignment with the business as the silver bullet for making IT departments most effective. But a new study reveals that most companies have, in fact, done a poor job with both. In a yet-to-be-released survey, the consulting firm Bain & Company found that companies grew […]

As Marriott International’s Steve Wolf watched a recent documentary on the setbacks in development of the world’s first jet fighter, he saw some striking parallels to modern-day corporate innovation and competition. The Messerschmitt ME 262, the German jet aircraft that might have given the Nazis aerial superiority in World War II, stalled in development as […]

  Brevity is the soul of wit, and a defining characteristic of the Twitter micromessaging system. It might work well for business communications, too. Founded in March 2006 by San Francisco startup Obvious Corp., Twitter lets users send short messages, free, via SMS, IM, e-mail or the Twitter Web site. Entries are restricted to 140 […]

The barbarians aren’t at the gate anymore–they’ve ripped it out of the ground and stomped right into corporate America’s backyard. Private equity firms, labeled "barbarians" by an earlier generation of corporate managers, have been buying up companies at a record rate; this year alone they’ve purchased big-name businesses such as Alltel, Chrysler, Equity Office and […]

The bags are packed, the e-mails checked. It’s time for some downtime. But for some IT professionals, a vacation is never quite a vacation. If you’re one of those who like to keep tabs on projects and personnel, you’ll need to prepare. Baseline has put together some tips for staying connected far away from the […]

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said last week that it has identified more than 1 million captive computers. Tracking “zombie” computers—those taken over remotely and forced to send out spam, spyware or denial-of-service attacks—presents a challenge for law enforcement, according to Shawn Henry, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division. Some IP addresses can […]

What’s the big deal? Sure, it’s Google, the big dog of Internet search, and the object of increasing scrutiny as its wealth and power continue to grow. And, yes, the new service, dubbed iGoogle, was characterized as “a little creepy” by none other than Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking at last month’s Personal Democracy Forum […]

Bill Godfrey helps transform old media companies into new media companies. In January, after almost eight years as CIO at Dow Jones, he assumed the same role at Elsevier, the science, technology and medical publishing arm of U.K.-based Reed Elsevier. There, he’s building digital delivery platforms that include a healthy dose of Web 2.0 technologies. […]

Weekend warriors and fitness fanatics alike canfind all their gear at Dick’s Sporting Goods. But until the retailer revamped how it analyzes its product lines, building and tracking reports for sales and inventory took a marathoner’s effort. Until 2003, the company relied on merchandise management software that tracked inventory for its stores and distribution points. […]

Open source thrives on technology managers’ penchant for avoidance—that is, their desire to dodge software licensing fees and vendor lock-in. Until recently, only two companies had truly commercialized the software by providing enterprise-class support. But now some of the biggest names in technology are looking for a piece of the action, betting that vendor lock-in […]

CIOs can’t get enough of Web 2.0, but they’ve just about had it with small, unproven vendors, according to new research. And despite all the buzz, justifying Web 2.0’s value remains an obstacle for technology managers. Forrester Research in December surveyed 119 CIOs at companies with 500-plus employees, asking how they’ve adopted Web 2.0 technologies—specifically, […]

First Aleksey Vayner’s video résumé made him infamous. Now it may have spawned a niche market. Vayner’s almost seven-minute film, dubbed “Impossible is Nothing,” showcased the then-Yale student smashing bricks barehanded, ballroom dancing with a scantily clad female and opining on ‘personal development.” Leaked last year by someone at UBS, where Vayner was gunning for […]