Introduction

OVERVIEW
The state of the art
Information Age editor Kenny MacIver introduces the Effective IT 2008 Report
By Kenny MacIver

EFFECTIVE IT 2008 SURVEY RESULTS
Charting success
Virtualisation garners the accolades in this year’s Effective IT Survey, while open-source falls out of favour
By Pete Swabey

IT SKILLS
Skills assessment
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates on why software skills matter
By Bill Gates

Platforms and architectures

VIRTUALISATION
The new architecture
Between virtualisation and SOA, the foundations for a flexible IT infrastructure are now in place
By Andrew Lawrence

DATA CENTRES
The new data centre
As the subject of energy use moves ever higher on the IT agenda, efficiency has become the watchword for data centre operations
By Gareth Morgan

DESKTOP
Wider options on the desktop
The front line of IT used to come in a single flavour, but the variety of configurations now possible on the desktop allows organisations to make some strategy choices
By Pete Swabey

STORAGE
Storage pressures
Storage priorities are changing: on top of the constant requirement for ever more capacity, there is intense pressure for greater efficiency
By Kenny MacIver

Agile, rich software

SERVICE-ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE
At your service
Service-oriented architecture is proving its potency – but only when fully embraced and aligned with the business
By Pete Swabey

DEVELOPMENT
Developing world
Software development is reaching new levels of professionalism and business responsiveness
By Kenny MacIver

Management strategies

IT ALIGNMENT
Towards business alignment
IT organisations are striving to close the gap between themselves and the business. So which approaches work?
By Gareth Morgan

SERVICE MANAGEMENT
ITIL upgraded
ITIL version 3 seeks to bring the service management guidelines to a wider audience
By Pete Swabey

BUSINESS CONTINUITY
Continuity pressures
Many organisations are now looking to diversify their risk of down time and operational disruption by utilising a range of remote hosting services
By Michelle Price

SECURITY
Securing the future
Central identity management systems are now a chief priority, but biometric technologies continue to disappoint
By Michelle Price

Information management

INFORMATION LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT
Managing the life of information
By treating information in a holistic way, organisations can manage surging data storage demands and the associated costs and compliance issues
By Gareth Morgan

MASTER DATA MANAGEMENT
Creating data unity
Master data management technology is being touted as a means of building a gold standard for enterprise data that can be used across all business applications
By Gareth Morgan

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
BI's winning ways
As well as decision-driven applications, end-users are increasingly demanding analytical data delivered on demand
By Andrew Lawrence

CONTENT MANAGEMENT
Beyond ECM
Enterprise content management is delivering major business benefits on multiple fronts. But technological and structural changes are sweeping through the sector
By Kenny MacIver

Communications and collaboration

INTERNET PROTOCOL
IP opportunity
Now the foundation for enterprise communication, Internet protocol is revolutionising working practices
By Gareth Morgan

MOBILE WORKING
Out-of-office experience
Mobile and remote working is delivering unprecedented benefits to business. But the range of new devices and ways to connect demand that managers keep tight control over their moveable assets
By Gareth Morgan

COLLABORATION
The collaborative effect
Collaboration technologies are on the cusp of achieving the critical mass to deliver a long-promised revolution
By Andrew Lawrence

Service delivery models

OUTSOURCING
Outsourcing 2.0
Big-bang IT service contracts are being usurped by a more flexible model of utility outsourcing
By Michelle Price

OFFSHORE IT SERVICES
Is offshoring still good value?
Doubt has arisen as to the efficacy of outsourcing low-end business processes to unfamiliar locations
By Michelle Price

SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE
On-demand economics
Now the case for software-as-a-service is proven, best practices are needed to ensure the potential becomes reality
By Pete Swabey

Also in this issue...

IT FOR THE M BUSINESS
IT for the M Business
A report from Information Age's IT for the M Business conference
By Information Age

Back issues

Information Age, July 2008 - The evolution of the CIO, Agile development, enterprise content management. Management Report: The Future of the Data Centre 2008

Information Age, June 2008 - Offshore innovation, Green IT in action, storage deduplication. Management report: Business Intelligence 08. Research Report: The value of IT

Information Age, May 2008 - The coming energy drought, women in IT. Research report: Information orchestration. Business briefing: Shadow data systems. Management report: Future of Software 2008

Information Age, April 2008 - Corporate social networking, securing virtual environments, an interview with HP's enterprise chief Ann Livermore

Information Age, March 2008 - IT opportunity and threat in the new Chinese economy, thin provisioning, the Effective IT 2008 Summit

Information Age, February 2008 - Living without an IT director, alternative biometrics, WiMax. Research report: Data governance

Information Age, January 2008 - The Effective IT 2008 Report: The technologies and services behind today's most dramatic business success stories. Plus: Management Report - IT for the M Business

Information Age, December 2007 - Data centre mythbusting, protecting against floods, SaaS meets SOA. Management report: Eco-responsibilty in IT

Information Age, November 2007 - Contactless payment systems, data centre co-location, systems management & virtualisation. Research report: Maximising IT's potential

Information Age, October 2007 - Serious business in virtual worlds, agile development at Standard Life, VMware profile, NHS Direct Q&A

Information Age, August 2007 - The insider security threat, video conferencing, Effective IT Awards winners report

Information Age, July 2007 - Agile ERP, financial service innovation, Storage, Business Briefing: XML integration, Management Report: The Future of the Data Centre 2007, Research Report: Virtualisation

Information Age, June 2007 - New licensing models, search and BI, Capgemini's global strategy, Q&A: British Energy

Information Age, May 2007 - Dynamic pricing, business process management, content management, Q&A: Reuters

Information Age, April 2007 - Cyber assault, managed print services, fixed-mobile convergence, Management Report: Business Intelligence 2007

Information Age, March 2007 - SOA design pitfalls, virtualisation and the operating systems, Business Briefing: Enterprise 2.0

Information Age, February 2007 - Out of India, the life and times of the relational database, The Effective IT 2007 Summit

Information Age, January 2007 - Advanced analytics, green IT, the state of security, The Effective IT 2007 Report