gap

How CIOs can gain corporate clout

Judi Hasson — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:11:57 -0400

Patrick Gray, author of "Breakthrough IT: Supercharging Organizational Value through Technology," said CIOs often have a "robust knowledge of the processes and practices" of nearly every facet of their corporation but do not always use it to their advantage. His advice: Find a way to get a seat at the corporate table and a place in the strategic planning process. "Innovation is the CIO's 'secret weapon' that bridges the gap between other members of the C-suite focused on individual process areas, and the CEO, responsible for steering the company at the highest level," said Gray. "Acting to bridge the two moves the CIO from the periphery of the C-suite players into the inner sanctum."

For more advice:
- check out this TechRepublic.com article

Paying attention to the next generation

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:00:00 -0400

An article at Networkworld.com tells how IBM is trying to close the IT skills gap, launching a web-based resource to better help prepare college students for job opportunities. IBM says it no longer can afford to spend as much time and money with on-the-job training as it has in the past, and expects young workers to be productive sooner. It hopes that increased collaboration with the university community and making a direct connection with students will help. All this makes a good deal of sense, and the article is worth a close read because it offers insight into the types of skills companies like Big Blue are looking for in their hires. These include service science management and engineering, database technology, Web 2.0 development, web server technology and enterprise systems. Are you prepared for the present, and the future? - Judi

IT fails at 'green'

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

There's a great deal of talk in the industry about making data centers more environmentally sound but it seems that it's just talk at the moment. A new survey finds that despite the best intentions, few IT system managers actually have any specific plans in place and most give their own operations failing grades in reducing energy consumption. The reason for not starting "green IT" programs, say the IT executives, is lack of funding and operational resources, particularly due to this year's tight budgets, according to a survey by the Business Performance Management Forum. "The results of the study point to a big gap between what IT leadership knows it needs to do and what it has accomplished to date in terms of environmental responsibility," BPM Forum Director Derek Kober told eWeek.

For more on what's wrong with 'green':
- See this eWeek article

For more tech stories from the FierceCIO network:
> Dell unveils a tiny green PC
> ExpressCard device locks down laptops
> Apple snatches up P.A. semi

Brush up on your wireless skills

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

IT workers have a clear gap in their skill base: wireless skills, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), which commissioned a survey of more than 3,500 information technology managers. The survey found that wireless and radio frequency mobile technology were likely to be the most important IT skill set globally within the next five years. The survey was pretty solid on the need for these skills: 63 percent of IT managers in healthcare and education said wireless tech skills would be the most important and nearly half--48 percent--said that it is an essential skill.

For more on wireless skills:
- See this InformationWeek article

Tech must push 21st century skills

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:59:58 -0400

To solve a technical problem, you need someone with a technical mind. But a new study co-sponsored by the Conference Board says that the nation's school systems are not putting enough emphasis on developing creativity. The study, "Ready to Innovate: Are Educators and Executives Aligned on the Creative Readiness of the U.S. Workforce?" found that 85 percent of the 89 employers surveyed said that they cannot find the kind of creative people they seek. There has been much talk and even more studies on what the country's workforce should look like in the 21st century. But we are already in the 21st century and there is evidence that education is lagging behind.

For more on the skills gap:
- See this CIOInsight article

Younger workers ignore IT security rules

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:59:59 -0400

The generation gap is here, again. A new survey from Symantec finds that young men and women entering the workforce don't see the fine line between work-based computer activities and personal activities. For instance, 75 percent of those under the age of 28--who are also called "millennials"--access their personal email at work and 66 percent of them check out Facebook and MySpace at the office. "This is a large volume of people who use these personal technologies," said Samir Kapuria, managing director, Symantec Advisory Consulting Services, which is in the business of providing security software. "Businesses need to ask themselves, 'How do I harness the capabilities of this tech-savvy group while also making sure of eliminating the risks associated with the use of this technology?'" This means that IT executives must tread lightly but still carry a big stick to deal with the issues that a new generation brings to the office.

For more on this generation gap:
- See this SearchCIO article

Gender gap in tech salaries

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:59:59 -0500

A man is likely to make more money than a woman in a technology job. According to a salary survey by career site Dice.com, the average salary last year for male technology professionals was $76,582, and for women, it was $67,507. Dice collected data from more than 19,000 technology professionals who use its site; respondents either filled out an online survey or replied to a request for information sent via email. "We feel comfortable that what we're seeing here is in fact representative of what's happening in the marketplace," said Thomas Silver, senior vice president of marketing at Dice. The gap was also wide in the retail, mail-order and eCommerce industries where men made 15 percent more than women. The survey found the gap narrowest in manufacturing, where men made 6.4 percent more than women.

However, the survey found that the difference shrinks as people work their way up the organizational chain. Female project managers earned $100,436 last year. Men made a little more at $101,569. Overall, Dice said that the average IT salary increased last year by 1.7 percent to $74,570, with pay varying by region. The three highest-paying areas were Silicon Valley, at $93,876; Boston at $83,465; and the Baltimore/Washington area at $81,750. Meanwhile, Detroit ranked at the bottom of 16 metro areas, with an average tech salary of $67,271.

For more on salary disparities:
- See this ComputerWorld article

Protect your data warehouse

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

Does your disaster recovery plan include your data warehouse? If it doesn't, you are facing a critical gap that could cost you years of saved data and lots of trouble. Now that data warehousing is increasingly tied to mission-critical applications such as business intelligence, you had better be sure that the mass of data that your office has collected is secure and that it is protected in event of a power outage, a hurricane or any other disaster that could wipe the system out.

"Data warehousing and business intelligence did start out as being not mission critical," said Claudia Imhoff, president and founder of Intelligent Solutions, a Boulder, Colo., consulting firm. "People would extract data out of the operational system and run away into their own environment, completely separated from operations. But in the past 10 years, analytics have become quite critical."

There are many questions about how to treat a data warehouse, including whether it should be absorbed into the IT infrastructure. "The litmus test here is whether a data warehouse becomes so mission critical that when it goes down, people begin to have problems. Then you want to move it into a data center operation. In a lot of cases, those data centers already exist, and they are more than happy to provide an environment for you with 24-by-7 backup and restore and all that,'' Wayne Eckerson, director of research at The Data Warehousing Institute in Renton, Wash., told SearchCIO.This is one more must-do item on the CIO list to make the IT department stronger. CIOs should be asking themselves, "Where would my company be if this data is lost?"

For more you data warehouses:
- See this SearchCIO article

Tech skills lose steam

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

In a surprising twist, a new report says that pay premiums for noncertified skills are now exceeding the average salary paid for certified tech skills. Research firm Foote Partners' studied the pay scales of certified and non-certified tech professionals in the third quarter of 2007. Non-certified skills on average received a premium of 8.08 percent of base pay based on an analysis of 156 non-certified skills. Certified skills on average received an average premium of 7.97 percent of base pay, based on an analysis of 159 certified skills. While the pay gap is only about 0.1 percent, "that's a huge difference in the world of pay stats," said David Foote, CEO and chief research officer and co-founder of Foote Partners. One of the reasons for this change is that many companies are emphasizing using IT to help create new products, generating more profits and improving customer service. That has translated into IT jobs requiring a bigger mix of technology skills along with business skills. Over the last two years or so, the emphasis at many companies is swinging towards using IT for helping to create new products, generating more profit and sales, improving customer service and relationships, Foote said. Let us know what is happening at your company and others that you see. Are pure tech skills losing out to a broader range of talents?

For more on salaries:
- see this InformationWeek article

ALSO NOTED: Five free apps you're gonna love; Microsoft continues to offer XP on new computers;

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

> Five free Apps you're gonna love. Article

> Microsoft continues to offer XP on new computers. Article

> Gap suffers security breach; contractor blamed. Article

> Why are CIOs disappearing? Article

> Approach Web 2.0 with caution, experts say. Article

And finally... See how technology can improve your travel frustrations. Article