Oracle Misfires in Fiscal 2Q, Raising Tech Worries
Oracle stumbled in its latest quarter as the business software maker struggled to close deals, a signal of possible trouble ahead for the technology sector.
The performance announced Tuesday covered a period of economic turbulence which has raised concerns that major companies and government agencies may curtail technology spending.
Oracle's results for the three months ending in November suggested the cutbacks have already started. Management reinforced that perception with a forecast calling for meager growth in the current quarter, which ends in February. The developments alarmed investors, causing Oracle Corp. shares to slide 10 percent.
In a telling sign of weakening demand, Oracle's sales of new software licenses edged up just 2 percent from the same time last year. Analysts had expected a double-digit gain in new software licenses. The company had predicted an increase of at least 6 percent and as much as 16 percent.
Wall Street focuses on this part of the business because selling new software products generates a stream of future revenue from maintenance and upgrades.
Oracle's software is a staple in companies and government agencies throughout the world. Its database products help companies store and manage information . Its line of applications automates a wide range of administrative tasks.
Part of the problem was that technology decision makers delayed signing contracts during the final few days of the quarter, according to Safra Catz, Oracle's chief financial officer. That could be an indication that companies and financially strapped government agencies are treading more carefully as Europe's debt problems threaten to hobble a still-fragile global economy.
"Clearly, this quarter was not what we thought it would be," Catz told analysts during a Tuesday conference call. She said the company is hoping some of the deals that were postponed in the last quarter will be completed within the next two months.
Oracle's weakest markets were in the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Things looked even bleaker in Oracle's computer hardware division, which the company has been trying to build since buying fallen Silicon Valley star Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion last year. Oracle's hardware revenue dropped 10 percent from the same time last year
Oracle earned $2.2 billion, or 43 cents per share, in its fiscal second quarter. That was a 17 percent increase from net income of $1.9 billion, or 37 cents per share at the same time last year.
If not for certain items, Oracle said it would have earned 54 cents per share. That figure fell below the average estimate of 57 cents per share among analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue for the period edged up 2 percent from last year to $8.8 billion. Analysts, on average, had projected revenue of $9.2 billion.
In the current quarter, Oracle expects its adjusted earnings per share to range from 55 cents to 58 cents -- below the average analyst estimate of 59 cents per share. Revenue is expected to rise by 2 percent to 5 percent from the same time in the previous year. If Oracle hits that top end of that target, it would translate to revenue of about $9.2 billion -- below the analyst estimate of $9.4 billion, according to FactSet.
Oracle has expanded its sales force by about 1,700 people to fish for more customers during the second half of its fiscal year. About 111,000 employees worked at Oracle as of Nov. 30.
The company's shares shed $2.91 to hit $26.26 in extended trading after the second-quarter figures were released. The stock has been sagging since hitting $36.50 in May.
In an effort to bolster the stock, Oracle announced it will spend an additional $5 billion to buy back its shares. The company, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., didn't set a timetable to complete the stock purchases. Oracle spent about $1 billion buying 33 million shares in its most recent quarter.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Training Dynamics CRM 4.0 immersion courses
Training is one of the foundations of CRM adoption – if people don’t know how to use a system, and if it’s not clear how a system will benefit them, they won’t use it. The same goes for the partners who implement CRM systems.
So how do you take someone with an IT background and bring them up to speed with CRM in a hurry? One solution might be an immersive course – stick them in a CRM boot camp and drill them until they know a CRM solution backward and forward.
“Actually, I hate the term ‘boot camp,’” says David Minutella, vice president of education for Training Camp, a developer of IT training programs that’s rolling out just such an accelerated set of courses dealing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. “We call it accelerated training – we get you in there, house you, and then have you in a classroom for 10 hours a day so you can focus what you need to learn.”
Having attended a boot camp, I can assure you that a program like this would suffer little from an absence of tear gassing, draconian haircutting policies and random yelling, although occasional forced push-ups might help focus attention, but that’s neither here nor there. The program takes students from their home organizations and houses and feeds the students, who have access to lab facilities – and instructors – 24 hours a day. Minutella says the outcome-based learning of this program is based around a lecture-lab-review format, or as he puts it simply: “we teach it, teach it again, then teach it one more time.”
The two courses, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment, aim to instill in-depth knowledge of the configuration, management and customization of the application, as well as instruction on new features, installation and networking with Windows Vista. The take away for the companies sending the pupils to the accelerated training is an in-house expert on Dynamics CRM 4.0 who’s ready to work on the solution upon arriving home after just a few days away away (Applications is 10 days and Installations and Deployment is seven days, but the training doesn’t have to be bak-to-back); for students, completing the course and exams means they’ll get the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist and Professional Application certifications.
The program launched last month, and Minutella said “there’s already been quite a bit of interest.” Training Camp also wants to launch a third track dealing with customizations to Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Training is one of the foundations of CRM adoption – if people don’t know how to use a system, and if it’s not clear how a system will benefit them, they won’t use it. The same goes for the partners who implement CRM systems.
So how do you take someone with an IT background and bring them up to speed with CRM in a hurry? One solution might be an immersive course – stick them in a CRM boot camp and drill them until they know a CRM solution backward and forward.
“Actually, I hate the term ‘boot camp,’” says David Minutella, vice president of education for Training Camp, a developer of IT training programs that’s rolling out just such an accelerated set of courses dealing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. “We call it accelerated training – we get you in there, house you, and then have you in a classroom for 10 hours a day so you can focus what you need to learn.”
Having attended a boot camp, I can assure you that a program like this would suffer little from an absence of tear gassing, draconian haircutting policies and random yelling, although occasional forced push-ups might help focus attention, but that’s neither here nor there. The program takes students from their home organizations and houses and feeds the students, who have access to lab facilities – and instructors – 24 hours a day. Minutella says the outcome-based learning of this program is based around a lecture-lab-review format, or as he puts it simply: “we teach it, teach it again, then teach it one more time.”
The two courses, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment, aim to instill in-depth knowledge of the configuration, management and customization of the application, as well as instruction on new features, installation and networking with Windows Vista. The take away for the companies sending the pupils to the accelerated training is an in-house expert on Dynamics CRM 4.0 who’s ready to work on the solution upon arriving home after just a few days away away (Applications is 10 days and Installations and Deployment is seven days, but the training doesn’t have to be bak-to-back); for students, completing the course and exams means they’ll get the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist and Professional Application certifications.
The program launched last month, and Minutella said “there’s already been quite a bit of interest.” Training Camp also wants to launch a third track dealing with customizations to Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Training Dynamics CRM 4.0 immersion courses
Training is one of the foundations of CRM adoption – if people don’t know how to use a system, and if it’s not clear how a system will benefit them, they won’t use it. The same goes for the partners who implement CRM systems.
So how do you take someone with an IT background and bring them up to speed with CRM in a hurry? One solution might be an immersive course – stick them in a CRM boot camp and drill them until they know a CRM solution backward and forward.
“Actually, I hate the term ‘boot camp,’” says David Minutella, vice president of education for Training Camp, a developer of IT training programs that’s rolling out just such an accelerated set of courses dealing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. “We call it accelerated training – we get you in there, house you, and then have you in a classroom for 10 hours a day so you can focus what you need to learn.”
Having attended a boot camp, I can assure you that a program like this would suffer little from an absence of tear gassing, draconian haircutting policies and random yelling, although occasional forced push-ups might help focus attention, but that’s neither here nor there. The program takes students from their home organizations and houses and feeds the students, who have access to lab facilities – and instructors – 24 hours a day. Minutella says the outcome-based learning of this program is based around a lecture-lab-review format, or as he puts it simply: “we teach it, teach it again, then teach it one more time.”
The two courses, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment, aim to instill in-depth knowledge of the configuration, management and customization of the application, as well as instruction on new features, installation and networking with Windows Vista. The take away for the companies sending the pupils to the accelerated training is an in-house expert on Dynamics CRM 4.0 who’s ready to work on the solution upon arriving home after just a few days away away (Applications is 10 days and Installations and Deployment is seven days, but the training doesn’t have to be bak-to-back); for students, completing the course and exams means they’ll get the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist and Professional Application certifications.
The program launched last month, and Minutella said “there’s already been quite a bit of interest.” Training Camp also wants to launch a third track dealing with customizations to Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Training is one of the foundations of CRM adoption – if people don’t know how to use a system, and if it’s not clear how a system will benefit them, they won’t use it. The same goes for the partners who implement CRM systems.
So how do you take someone with an IT background and bring them up to speed with CRM in a hurry? One solution might be an immersive course – stick them in a CRM boot camp and drill them until they know a CRM solution backward and forward.
“Actually, I hate the term ‘boot camp,’” says David Minutella, vice president of education for Training Camp, a developer of IT training programs that’s rolling out just such an accelerated set of courses dealing with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0. “We call it accelerated training – we get you in there, house you, and then have you in a classroom for 10 hours a day so you can focus what you need to learn.”
Having attended a boot camp, I can assure you that a program like this would suffer little from an absence of tear gassing, draconian haircutting policies and random yelling, although occasional forced push-ups might help focus attention, but that’s neither here nor there. The program takes students from their home organizations and houses and feeds the students, who have access to lab facilities – and instructors – 24 hours a day. Minutella says the outcome-based learning of this program is based around a lecture-lab-review format, or as he puts it simply: “we teach it, teach it again, then teach it one more time.”
The two courses, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Applications and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Installations and Deployment, aim to instill in-depth knowledge of the configuration, management and customization of the application, as well as instruction on new features, installation and networking with Windows Vista. The take away for the companies sending the pupils to the accelerated training is an in-house expert on Dynamics CRM 4.0 who’s ready to work on the solution upon arriving home after just a few days away away (Applications is 10 days and Installations and Deployment is seven days, but the training doesn’t have to be bak-to-back); for students, completing the course and exams means they’ll get the Microsoft Certified Business Management Solutions Specialist and Professional Application certifications.
The program launched last month, and Minutella said “there’s already been quite a bit of interest.” Training Camp also wants to launch a third track dealing with customizations to Dynamics CRM 4.0.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Dreamforce 2011 Focuses on Post-PC Revolution
Salesforce.com is getting ready for Dreamforce 2011, its hallmark cloud -computing event. This year's conference is planned for Aug. 30 through Sept. 2 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, and will focus on something that's been in the news plenty in recent days: The post-PC revolution.
As Salesforce sees it, the post-PC revolution will further accelerate the social enterprise . There is clearly a rise in companies working to improve the way they collaborate, communicate and share information with customers and employees in the cloud. That rise, Salesforce said, is transforming companies into social enterprises, which it defined as those that build social profiles of customers, create internal social networks, and listen to and engage with customers over the Internet.
Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, offered a bold statement with which his competitors likely disagree. "Each year at Dreamforce, we set the agenda for the cloud-computing industry, and this year will be no exception," he said. "At Dreamforce 2011, we will showcase customers that have embraced innovation and transformed themselves into social enterprises."
Cloud Battles
The gestalt the technology market is wandering through is moving to an ever more web-centric world, a world that surrounds companies like Salesforce -- and favors them, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"Salesforce is not really known as a social-networking company by any stretch of the imagination," Enderle said. "Both Salesforce and IBM are having a little trouble grappling with it as a result. On the other hand, it's not like the social networks are flooding into the businesses overtly, it's more covertly and carried by the employees."
As Enderle sees it, Salesforce's take on the market is correct. But He questioned whether the company can position itself to leverage the evolution. While Salesforce was initially one of the biggest enterprise cloud players, he noted, cloud leadership has shifted to the likes of EMC and IBM.
Tapping Relevant Trends
"To a large extent I think Salesforce needs to return to being more relevant in the trends that they themselves helped create," Enderle said. "Salesforce is doing a marginal job riding these trends. The right thing to do is to get back and start talking about yourself as a leader. But the danger is that they aren't anymore, and they need to address that."
Salesforce will work to trumpet its cloud leadership at Dreamforce with sessions on government, healthcare and the social world. Special guests at the annual user and developer conference include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google. The event aims to teach attendees how their companies can take advantage of Salesforce's cloud offerings. The company expects more than 25,000 people to attend the 450 sessions.
Salesforce.com is getting ready for Dreamforce 2011, its hallmark cloud -computing event. This year's conference is planned for Aug. 30 through Sept. 2 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, and will focus on something that's been in the news plenty in recent days: The post-PC revolution.
As Salesforce sees it, the post-PC revolution will further accelerate the social enterprise . There is clearly a rise in companies working to improve the way they collaborate, communicate and share information with customers and employees in the cloud. That rise, Salesforce said, is transforming companies into social enterprises, which it defined as those that build social profiles of customers, create internal social networks, and listen to and engage with customers over the Internet.
Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of Salesforce, offered a bold statement with which his competitors likely disagree. "Each year at Dreamforce, we set the agenda for the cloud-computing industry, and this year will be no exception," he said. "At Dreamforce 2011, we will showcase customers that have embraced innovation and transformed themselves into social enterprises."
Cloud Battles
The gestalt the technology market is wandering through is moving to an ever more web-centric world, a world that surrounds companies like Salesforce -- and favors them, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"Salesforce is not really known as a social-networking company by any stretch of the imagination," Enderle said. "Both Salesforce and IBM are having a little trouble grappling with it as a result. On the other hand, it's not like the social networks are flooding into the businesses overtly, it's more covertly and carried by the employees."
As Enderle sees it, Salesforce's take on the market is correct. But He questioned whether the company can position itself to leverage the evolution. While Salesforce was initially one of the biggest enterprise cloud players, he noted, cloud leadership has shifted to the likes of EMC and IBM.
Tapping Relevant Trends
"To a large extent I think Salesforce needs to return to being more relevant in the trends that they themselves helped create," Enderle said. "Salesforce is doing a marginal job riding these trends. The right thing to do is to get back and start talking about yourself as a leader. But the danger is that they aren't anymore, and they need to address that."
Salesforce will work to trumpet its cloud leadership at Dreamforce with sessions on government, healthcare and the social world. Special guests at the annual user and developer conference include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google. The event aims to teach attendees how their companies can take advantage of Salesforce's cloud offerings. The company expects more than 25,000 people to attend the 450 sessions.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Airlines Lure Premium Customers
Delta Air Lines' master sommelier Andrea Robinson opened up bottle after bottle of white and red wine from France, Italy, Australia, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
As she tasted them Monday, a blue bucket sat on the table next to her. It was there so she could spit out each sip, ensuring she didn't get tipsy and could distinguish between the different wines. By the time she's done in the next few days, Robinson will have tasted and smelled roughly 2,000 bottles.
The delicate work of a sommelier has become more important as U.S. airlines fight for premium passengers willing to shell out up to thousands of dollars to fly business class on international and transcontinental flights. The idea isn't to make money on the wine -- the passengers in those seats drink for free -- but rather to keep those customers coming back and encourage their well-heeled friends and co-workers to join them. Other airlines including United Airlines and American Airlines also work with wine experts to help them choose what to serve on their flights.
And there's a market for it: According to the International Air Transport Association, through the first four months of this year, there was an 8.5 percent increase year-over-year in premium passenger traffic, which includes business class and first class seats. Those seats are among the most pricey and profitable for airlines. The trade group expects fuel costs to weigh on premium traffic, and stronger growth in the second half of the year will depend on how well the economy holds up.
Robinson's task is to choose 30 labels for Delta, which is based in Atlanta. The wine and champagne will be served in Delta's BusinessElite class cabins in 2012. The world's second-largest carrier expects to order some 1.6 million bottles for the service. The still wines Robinson looks for range from a retail price of $25 to $30 a bottle, while dessert wines will run $30 to $35 a bottle and the champagne will run $45 to $50 a bottle.
"If it costs $20, it has to taste like $40. That's what I'm aiming for," Robinson said.
She is looking for wines with a distinct taste that will come through when sipped at 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) by bankers and vacationers alike, because passengers' sense of taste and smell can be diminished when in flight.
Delta's domestic coach passengers can buy glasses of wine, though the selections won't be as chic and won't get the same special attention from Robinson. Coach passengers on Delta international flights get wine for free.
Sommeliers are also working with other airlines.
Doug Frost, a Kansas City author who writes and lectures about wine and also is a master sommelier, is the wine and spirits consultant for United Airlines. He helps select tens of thousands of cases of wines and spirits each year for the carrier. Ken Chase, a Canadian classically trained wine merchant with an international reputation, does wine selections for American Airlines. According to the airline, Chase selects fine wines for various routes paying close attention to menu parings, as well as the ethnic, cultural, seasonal and stylistic differences of each destination.
Delta also is mindful of the destinations it serves when it selects wines. Some of the offerings on Robinson's taste menu came from Chile and Argentina. Delta has a big presence in Latin America.
The selection of wine, though, isn't the only thing that's important. So, too, is the flight attendants' knowledge of the offerings so they can answer business class passengers' questions. Delta is offering wine training for flight attendants.
Julie Pearson, who has been a Delta flight attendant for 23 years, attended Monday's wine tasting. The 44-year-old works in the BusinessElite cabin on the airline's Boston to Amsterdam route. Some passengers will know exactly what they want, while others have questions and enjoy the ability to taste the different wines on board before making a selection.
"A good sign for the flight is when all my wine glasses are dirty -- and that happens a lot," Pearson said.
Delta Air Lines' master sommelier Andrea Robinson opened up bottle after bottle of white and red wine from France, Italy, Australia, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
As she tasted them Monday, a blue bucket sat on the table next to her. It was there so she could spit out each sip, ensuring she didn't get tipsy and could distinguish between the different wines. By the time she's done in the next few days, Robinson will have tasted and smelled roughly 2,000 bottles.
The delicate work of a sommelier has become more important as U.S. airlines fight for premium passengers willing to shell out up to thousands of dollars to fly business class on international and transcontinental flights. The idea isn't to make money on the wine -- the passengers in those seats drink for free -- but rather to keep those customers coming back and encourage their well-heeled friends and co-workers to join them. Other airlines including United Airlines and American Airlines also work with wine experts to help them choose what to serve on their flights.
And there's a market for it: According to the International Air Transport Association, through the first four months of this year, there was an 8.5 percent increase year-over-year in premium passenger traffic, which includes business class and first class seats. Those seats are among the most pricey and profitable for airlines. The trade group expects fuel costs to weigh on premium traffic, and stronger growth in the second half of the year will depend on how well the economy holds up.
Robinson's task is to choose 30 labels for Delta, which is based in Atlanta. The wine and champagne will be served in Delta's BusinessElite class cabins in 2012. The world's second-largest carrier expects to order some 1.6 million bottles for the service. The still wines Robinson looks for range from a retail price of $25 to $30 a bottle, while dessert wines will run $30 to $35 a bottle and the champagne will run $45 to $50 a bottle.
"If it costs $20, it has to taste like $40. That's what I'm aiming for," Robinson said.
She is looking for wines with a distinct taste that will come through when sipped at 30,000 feet (9,000 meters) by bankers and vacationers alike, because passengers' sense of taste and smell can be diminished when in flight.
Delta's domestic coach passengers can buy glasses of wine, though the selections won't be as chic and won't get the same special attention from Robinson. Coach passengers on Delta international flights get wine for free.
Sommeliers are also working with other airlines.
Doug Frost, a Kansas City author who writes and lectures about wine and also is a master sommelier, is the wine and spirits consultant for United Airlines. He helps select tens of thousands of cases of wines and spirits each year for the carrier. Ken Chase, a Canadian classically trained wine merchant with an international reputation, does wine selections for American Airlines. According to the airline, Chase selects fine wines for various routes paying close attention to menu parings, as well as the ethnic, cultural, seasonal and stylistic differences of each destination.
Delta also is mindful of the destinations it serves when it selects wines. Some of the offerings on Robinson's taste menu came from Chile and Argentina. Delta has a big presence in Latin America.
The selection of wine, though, isn't the only thing that's important. So, too, is the flight attendants' knowledge of the offerings so they can answer business class passengers' questions. Delta is offering wine training for flight attendants.
Julie Pearson, who has been a Delta flight attendant for 23 years, attended Monday's wine tasting. The 44-year-old works in the BusinessElite cabin on the airline's Boston to Amsterdam route. Some passengers will know exactly what they want, while others have questions and enjoy the ability to taste the different wines on board before making a selection.
"A good sign for the flight is when all my wine glasses are dirty -- and that happens a lot," Pearson said.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Business intelligence
As economic recovery boosts IT hiring, specialized skill sets will see the most action. These include business analytics, storage and cloud computing. Tim said data needs to be analyzed to be useful, and Jordan said data storage is always a good place to be. And CIOs who can deliver continue to be in demand
IT careers are heating up again -- at least in some sectors. So what are the best IT careers for 2011? Is it the mobile market? Enterprise security? Business analytics? The good news is, experts say there is plenty of action across the board for technologists with specialized skill sets.
Is betting on business analytics. Tim, a spokesperson for Big Blue's business-analytics division, said businesses and governments alike are grappling with the challenge of making sense of this data deluge to turn it into new opportunities, increased performance, and faster, better decision-making. Gartner reports business analytics is a top 10 priority for companies in 2011.
"The power of business analytics is transforming this information into a strategic asset. Although having the best, most complete and up-to-date information is useless if you can't make sense of it," Powers said. "Data unanalyzed is data wasted. Therefore, businesses and governments need two very important things to make this happen: The right technology, and employees with the right expertise and skill sets."
Storage, Virtualization and the Cloud
Jordan, president and CEO of Insider Search, focuses on another area of IT: Senior level sales, marketing, engineering, consulting and management talent -- with a specific focus on data storage and infrastructure . He sees plenty of activity on those sectors in 2011.
"Storage has always been a great place to be, because no matter how bad the economy gets, storage is always a sizable chunk of any IT budget. Every organization needs to store and manage their critical data. Storage administrators, architects and consultants will always be in high demand," said.
"Two other key areas of massive potential growth are virtualization and cloud -computing-related technologies. It's often said that 'virtualization is the gateway drug to the cloud,'" he added. "In the future, more and more companies will move toward virtualized environments and utilize cloud architectures. It's a good idea to get on board now as the train builds momentum."
A Fresh Look at CIOs
Steve, a managing director at global search firm Chase, said the CIO position continues to grow in breadth of demands, complexity and responsibility to a wide range of senior executives. Because of this, he said, great CIO talent is still in demand, along with several first-level managers.
"IT jobs are especially in demand for people who can deliver to the complexity of the business -- more for less, effectiveness and efficiencies, compliances, risk management, proactive business alignment, and service-level expectations," said. "Skills in strategic planning, business analysis and process improvement, project management, infrastructure services, security and risk management are in demand."
Jack, vice president and chief delivery officer for Avandex, said communication , collaboration and data access within the enterprise will drive greater reliance on positions such as computer-systems analysts and IT specialists who ensure the implementation and efficiency of the technologies that help to run our businesses every day. He concluded, "The best IT careers will be those that allow for the chance to engage with people on a global level -- learning cultures throughout the world through collaboration with teammates located at various offices."
As economic recovery boosts IT hiring, specialized skill sets will see the most action. These include business analytics, storage and cloud computing. Tim said data needs to be analyzed to be useful, and Jordan said data storage is always a good place to be. And CIOs who can deliver continue to be in demand
IT careers are heating up again -- at least in some sectors. So what are the best IT careers for 2011? Is it the mobile market? Enterprise security? Business analytics? The good news is, experts say there is plenty of action across the board for technologists with specialized skill sets.
Is betting on business analytics. Tim, a spokesperson for Big Blue's business-analytics division, said businesses and governments alike are grappling with the challenge of making sense of this data deluge to turn it into new opportunities, increased performance, and faster, better decision-making. Gartner reports business analytics is a top 10 priority for companies in 2011.
"The power of business analytics is transforming this information into a strategic asset. Although having the best, most complete and up-to-date information is useless if you can't make sense of it," Powers said. "Data unanalyzed is data wasted. Therefore, businesses and governments need two very important things to make this happen: The right technology, and employees with the right expertise and skill sets."
Storage, Virtualization and the Cloud
Jordan, president and CEO of Insider Search, focuses on another area of IT: Senior level sales, marketing, engineering, consulting and management talent -- with a specific focus on data storage and infrastructure . He sees plenty of activity on those sectors in 2011.
"Storage has always been a great place to be, because no matter how bad the economy gets, storage is always a sizable chunk of any IT budget. Every organization needs to store and manage their critical data. Storage administrators, architects and consultants will always be in high demand," said.
"Two other key areas of massive potential growth are virtualization and cloud -computing-related technologies. It's often said that 'virtualization is the gateway drug to the cloud,'" he added. "In the future, more and more companies will move toward virtualized environments and utilize cloud architectures. It's a good idea to get on board now as the train builds momentum."
A Fresh Look at CIOs
Steve, a managing director at global search firm Chase, said the CIO position continues to grow in breadth of demands, complexity and responsibility to a wide range of senior executives. Because of this, he said, great CIO talent is still in demand, along with several first-level managers.
"IT jobs are especially in demand for people who can deliver to the complexity of the business -- more for less, effectiveness and efficiencies, compliances, risk management, proactive business alignment, and service-level expectations," said. "Skills in strategic planning, business analysis and process improvement, project management, infrastructure services, security and risk management are in demand."
Jack, vice president and chief delivery officer for Avandex, said communication , collaboration and data access within the enterprise will drive greater reliance on positions such as computer-systems analysts and IT specialists who ensure the implementation and efficiency of the technologies that help to run our businesses every day. He concluded, "The best IT careers will be those that allow for the chance to engage with people on a global level -- learning cultures throughout the world through collaboration with teammates located at various offices."
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Computers of Tomorrow
Today's computers operate using transistors, wires and electricity. Future computers might use atoms, fibers and light. Personally, I don't give a byte what makes it tick, as long as it does the job. If I could accidentally spill my coffee and not have it cost $848, that would be a cool feature.
But let us assume that you are not still bitter from a recent laptop replacement. You might stop to consider what the world might be like, if computers the size of molecules become a reality. These are the types of computers that could be everywhere, but never seen. Nano sized bio-computers that could target specific areas inside your body. Giant networks of computers, in your clothing, your house, your car. Entrenched in almost every aspect of our lives and yet you may never give them a single thought.
Understanding the theories behind these future computer technologies is not for the meek. My research into quantum computers was made all the more difficult after I learned that in light of her constant interference, it is theoretically possible my mother-in-law could be in two places at once.
If you have the heart, take a gander at the most promising new computer technologies. If not, dare to imagine the ways that billions of tiny, powerful computers will change our society.
Today's computers operate using transistors, wires and electricity. Future computers might use atoms, fibers and light. Personally, I don't give a byte what makes it tick, as long as it does the job. If I could accidentally spill my coffee and not have it cost $848, that would be a cool feature.
But let us assume that you are not still bitter from a recent laptop replacement. You might stop to consider what the world might be like, if computers the size of molecules become a reality. These are the types of computers that could be everywhere, but never seen. Nano sized bio-computers that could target specific areas inside your body. Giant networks of computers, in your clothing, your house, your car. Entrenched in almost every aspect of our lives and yet you may never give them a single thought.
Understanding the theories behind these future computer technologies is not for the meek. My research into quantum computers was made all the more difficult after I learned that in light of her constant interference, it is theoretically possible my mother-in-law could be in two places at once.
If you have the heart, take a gander at the most promising new computer technologies. If not, dare to imagine the ways that billions of tiny, powerful computers will change our society.
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