InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

Most of our 564 survey respondents farm out some IT functions, often to a mix of suppliers. But don’t immediately think “Asia”: Just 4% exclusively use offshore firms. And among consumers of ­outsourcing services, 54% support legislation that would ­penalize U.S.-based companies for moving IT jobs overseas.

It wasn’t long ago that only IT pros in education and creative services markets supported Apple products on a large scale. Sure, other orgs might have had a few Mac users tucked away, ­islands of quirkiness in an ocean of Windows corporate ­conformity, but they were largely on their own. Times have changed thanks to iPhones and iPads, but the question remains: Will Apple step up to become an enduring enterprise presence?

Apple devices are supported in nine out of 10 companies, our research finds, but IT needs ways to manage them more efficiently and securely.

Our latest survey and analysis of 13 top Apple offerings, from the iPhone to the Mac Pro, show IT pros accustomed to the ­Windows world getting a crash course, not just on iOS but OS X systems. Do you have a plan to cope? And what's the outlook for a successful marriage of enterprise IT and consumer titan?

Meeting regulatory requirements barely inched out managing digital patient data as the top priority for our 363 healthcare provider IT pros. More than half, 56%, have completed their EMR or EHR deployments, and 74% are using or planning to use a health information exchange. So what's next on the docket? Hopefully, it's catching up to other sectors. After all, when your head's down, it's easy to walk straight into a swamp.

Implementing electronic records and meeting Meaningful Use rules are top of the list in our Health IT Priorities survey. Is there room for breakthrough technology?