InformationWeek Reports : Outsourcing and Services

Strategy: Database Defense

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:10:15 -0500

The biggest threat to your company’s most sensitive data may be the employee who has legitimate access to corporate databases but less-than-legitimate intentions. And while the incidence of insider data breaches has decreased, external attacks often imitate them—and do serious damage. Follow our advice to mitigate the risk.

Research: Managed Print Services for Government Agencies

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:25:46 -0500

Managed print services can help government agencies meet federal mandates and initiatives to cut waste and improve energy management. The first step is evaluating and changing their printing infrastructures. Then they must make sure users are on board with the changes.

Strategy: Secure SDLC

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:16:54 -0400

The application layer has long topped the attacker hit list, and we continue to hear about data breaches exploiting software vulnerabilities. Yet secure application development remains a low priority in most enterprises. In this report, we provide a blueprint for making security an integral part of the software development life cycle.

IT Pro Impact: HP's Strategy

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:44:56 -0400

Our survey finds that technology professionals don’t understand where HP is headed -- and where they do have a glimpse of the new direction, they don’t like it.

IT Management Goes SaaS

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:37:38 -0400

Management tools move online, but beware of drawbacks.

Strategy: UC in the Cloud

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:55:27 -0400

Cloud-based unified communications presents challenges not found with other online services, including the need for premises infrastructure and a LAN that's ready for voice and video. We identify and explain those challenges to help you make the best decision about your UC deployment.

The Hybrid Desktop

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 01:19:13 -0400

New SaaS productivity apps combine the best of browser access and traditional clients. Here's how to find the best fit for your company.

InformationWeek Print Issue: September 5, 2011

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 12:51:36 -0400

Software's Mounting Costs
Complex licensing policies and increased fees can seem like an insurmountable challenge, but there are ways to make headway

Strategy: Hardware-Based Authentication

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:36:05 -0400

Tokens, smartcards, biometrics and other hardware-based authentication technologies provide a significant layer of security for sensitive enterprise data. But the wrong choice, or a mishandled implementation, can mean unexpected costs and management overhead, device failure and user rejection. We explore the pros and cons of the various technologies, and help you choose the right approach for your company. Plus: Best practices in the wake of the SecurID breach.

Research: Identity Management

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 03:47:14 -0400

We know we have to get a handle on access. But what’s a reasonable technical road map for rolling out cost-effective identity management? How do you properly implement user provisioning? And are current initiatives meeting business security needs and helping IT create trusted partnerships? We’ll analyze our data and help you draw up a plan. IdM is well worth doing, but only if you can get it right.

Strategy: SaaS Productivity Apps

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:06:12 -0400

Google is aggressively pushing its productivity apps as an alternative to Microsoft’s Office/Exchange/SharePoint troika. Microsoft has responded with Office 365, a service that blends online and native apps. Adobe, Zoho and others also offer options. Is any SaaS office suite robust enough to meet your company’s needs? If so, what’s your best bet: browser-based, native or a mix? We help you find an answer, and provide pricing info.

Research: Managed Print Services

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:13:20 -0400

Companies that have implemented or are evaluating MPS look to the model for its ability to reduce costs and increase end-user productivity. Outsourcing select jobs can yield savings as well. However, IT teams need to be aware of security and scalability when selecting a partner. Here’s how two large companies in diverse industries got a handle on printing.

Strategy: SaaS-Based IT Management

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:41:07 -0400

SaaS-based IT tools perform many of the same functions as traditional management software and have two big advantages: They’re easier to deploy and cheaper. But IT has yet to adopt the SaaS model for management tools. We’ll dig into the reasons why, and provide guidelines to help you decide whether SaaS is a fit for your IT department.

Return of the Silos

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:23:25 -0400

SaaS use threatens hard-won integration. Do we really have to go back?

Strategy: Automation and Orchestration

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:34:20 -0400

Automation and orchestration technologies can make IT more efficient and better able to serve the business by streamlining common tasks and speeding service delivery. But it doesn’t always go as smoothly as we’d like. In this report, we outline the potential snags and share strategies and best practices to ensure successful implementation.

Strategy: SaaS Integration

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:31:51 -0400

Application integration has always been a tough problem. Now add to the mix the security challenges of running services off-site and the inherent design restrictions of SaaS—think islands, not designed to exchange data—and things get even trickier. Here are some best practices for making your apps work together for your business, not against it.

SLAs: Promises, Promises

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 10:40:05 -0400

SLAs: We use them, hate them and need to improve them.

Strategy: Cloud SLAs

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:36:58 -0400

As enterprises ramp up cloud adoption, service-level agreements play a major role in ensuring quality enterprise application performance. Follow our four-step process to ensure providers live up to their end of the deal.

Research: State of the IT Service Desk

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:48:19 -0400

Incident volume continues to rise, as new services are added and changes are continually made to existing services—infrastructure, apps, mobile devices and virtualization. IT support must better leverage service management frameworks, standards and practices to align its offerings with customer needs and business goals to demonstrate the value the IT service desk provides.

Research: Cloud Storage

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:02:43 -0400

Surrounded by data? Demands from users for fast access? Endless retention policies? Cloud storage can help, say vendors. However, our survey reveals that IT is skeptical. While off-site services may indeed have the potential to transform the storage landscape, most respondents are rightly leery of moving precious data to a public cloud.

Strategy: How SMBs Can Fight Cybercrime

Mon, 13 Jun 2011 03:45:21 -0400

Small and midsize businesses are falling prey to cyberattacks that cost them sensitive data, productivity and corporate accounts cleaned out by sophisticated banking Trojans. SMBs are typically on the hook for these losses and lack effective means to prevent them. We explain what makes these threats so menacing, and share best practices to defend against them.

Strategy: Cloud Security Monitoring

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:37:05 -0400

Security monitoring, incident response and forensics are essential, even in the cloud. But the cloud by definition implies relinquishing at least some control, which can make these practices problematic. In this report, we identify the challenges of detecting and responding to security issues in the cloud and discuss the most effective ways to address them.

Research: IT Automation

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:45:03 -0400

IT’s juggling frantically to keep current services running even as business customers pile on new requests. Automation is an important tool in helping us shift focus toward meeting unique business needs, but it should be coupled with judicious use of external services and portfolio management.

Research: SLAs

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:11:06 -0400

Service-level agreements. We all get them as a matter of course, but do you believe in them, read them, negotiate them—or doubt they’re worth the paper they’re printed on? And do you treat your ISP differently from a SaaS provider? In this report, we’ll talk about protecting what needs to be protected, how to use automation to monitor compliance and strategies to collect when services are subpar.

Strategy: Collaboration Security

Tue, 03 May 2011 02:38:07 -0400

Companies, even individual departments, are fighting the onslaught of cyberattacks, not as an army, but in isolated pockets of resistance. Coordinated efforts to share security information, both internally and among enterprises, are hamstrung by a lack of standard data formats, institutional entrenchment and legal
concerns. In this report, we explain the obstacles and show you how to overcome them.