March 2006

March 2006

To ensure your company's technology and business strategies align, try these proven techniques to shore up IT's role in business planning. You'll also read in the March 2006 issue of BizTech how small businesses are bucking the nationwide trend toward IT staff turnover. Plus get tips on building rapport with difficult end users and changing your technology department's image from that of a cost center to a strategic business partner.

Features

Reinvention — By Design
Direct marketer Exmplar leverages technology and in-house expertise to rebuild its business.
Small Business: The Cure to IT Burnout?
Small companies with strong leadership and varied opportunities for IT staff are offsetting the nationwide trend.
Get Your Ducks in a Row
Here is what you can do to ensure alignment and shore up IT's role in the business planning process.
Building Rapport
Seven Tips for Dealing With Difficult Users

Departments

Dashboard: Dashboard: January 2006
How To: Active Directory Shortcuts
Don't paint yourself into a corner; use these tips for AD migration to Windows Server 2003.
Out-of-the-Box ROI: Improving Your Outlook
Reversing the 80/20 rule can help you get more out of Outlook.
Security: Not Your Father's Firewall
Unified Threat Management has a new generation of all-in-one security appliances poised to replace aging firewalls.
Tech Trends: 3 Ways to Protect Your IT Essentials
Protect your essential IT gear from damaging power failures with the right UPS.
Tech Tips: Embrace E-Mail Limits with Exchange Mailbox Management
Exchange mailbox management can keep e-mail packrats under control.
Tech Watch: Ready, Set, Gig
Before running out and installing a Gigabit Ethernet, understand that it's not about boosting the Internet, but improving file transfer speeds.
Road Warriors: Bells But No Whistles
While every user wants a notebook loaded with all the latest goodies, it's best to let functional responsibility drive feature selections.
Profile: IT Manager Ryan Suydam
Best Practices: Protect & Serve
Despite .NET's built-in security, programmers should follow these tips to keep Web services safe and secure.
Best Practices: Options for Your Business' Software—Lease, Build or Buy
Best Practices: Home Wreckers
When malware takes up residence on company computers, here's how to give it the boot.

Opinions

Letter From the Editor: Our Promise: Provide Insights and Metrics Right for Your Business
The Lowdown: Who Says You Have to Upgrade Now?
By keeping your head, you can turn panic about an overhaul into success.
Your CIO: Earning Respect for IT
Do end users think your company's systems and IT team are a necessary evil? Then prove their value by making changes in how they serve users.
Harry’s Corner: Get Ahead of the Deadline
Finding time to plan is a luxury that growing businesses very seldom get to enjoy.
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BizTech's Must-Read I.T. Blogs

Security

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A History of Encryption Thro... |
Passwords and information security have come a long way.
Symantec: Flashback Trojan A... |
The antimalware company digs through the code to find the motives of the Mac OS X...
Hackers Have Their Eye On Sm... |
No organization is too small to go unnoticed by hackers and malware proprietors.

Storage

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The Value of Storage Virtual... |
Nondisruptive data migration, improved utilization and fewer points of management are...
GIS Data: A Storage Puzzle |
The exponential growth of big data from geospatial technology is forcing businesses to be...
Big Data Needs Push Firm to... |
With millions of acres of timberland in its care, a unique investment management firm...

Infrastructure Optimization

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Why an Uneventful E-Mail Mig... |
A company achieved just what it was looking for when it moved its e-mail to the cloud: no...
Must-Read IT Blogger Q&A... |
Virtualization and cloud technologies have captured the imaginations of this industry-...
Mozilla Moves to New $3 Mill... |
The Internet leader built its new data center with open collaboration and community...

Networking

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The Value of In-Person Meeti... |
Putting in face time with coworkers, clients and business partners really makes a...
How to Optimize the WAN for... |
Use these tips to maximize the performance of company WANs.
WAN Optimization: Addressing... |
Using WAN optimization actually bolsters disaster recovery and security efforts for IT...

Mobile & Wireless

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The Case for Joining the Wor... |
Telework and a four-day work week make a lot of sense when you look at the numbers.
Smartphones Are Making Every... |
Pew survey finds that smartphones are turning users into real-time problem solvers.
How to Repel Notebook Thieve... |
Theft-prevention technologies not only guard against mobile devices being stolen, but...

Hardware & Software

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Why an Uneventful E-Mail Mig... |
A company achieved just what it was looking for when it moved its e-mail to the cloud: no...
How the Tampa Bay Lightning... |
More businesses are using digital displays to increase engagement and bump up the...
Windows XP Maintains Its Hol... |
With official support for Windows XP ending in 2014, organizations should plan to upgrade...