Spending the nation's wealth

As private-sector information chiefs feel the pinch of a tightening economy, their government peers continue to splash the cash, Ben Woodhead writes.

Offshore attraction

Bank of Queensland CIO Iain Blacklaw is swapping home comforts for the rewards and cultural challenges that go with a top role in a large Saudi bank, Michael Crawford writes.

Silver lining

Following the era of the desktop PC, mainstream computing's big shift to web-based software and service infrastructure is well under way, Brad Howarth writes.

Falling between the cracks

Many vendors' idea of a small business simply doesn't match Australia's reality, leading to ill-fitting solutions, Simon Sharwood writes.

Take control

Consolidating desktops onto a single server offers benefits for IT. Brad Howarth examines the evolving process and the need to balance it with end-user needs.

Who are you

As the number of services delivered over the internet grows, Paul Smith finds, in this CA-sponsored conversation, that the complexities of managing access to networks are unlikely to diminish soon.

IT and the public purse

When you run an MIS cover story about a specific sector, you always run the risk of annoying people who don't work in the area in question. So I apologise to those chief information officers who don't toil for the taxpayers' coin.

Freaking compliance

Reform may soon make organisations legally responsible for clients' data, and IT's big names face having to reveal where that information goes, Julian Bajkowski writes.

Harness creativity

Not allowing consumer devices to access enterprise networks on security or cost grounds can lead to unintended consequences, Mary Ann Maxwell writes.

Come 2.0gether

Its proponents see a steady flow of ideas and the cure for all business ills. Steve Hodgkinson looks at collaboration in corporate culture and the behavioural issues it raises.

Slow sell on SaaS

Microsoft's partners have had one big thing on their minds over the past three years - what software as a service will mean for them, Chris Morris writes.

Forward thinking

Intellectual property is tricky. Damian Ward explores your rights when staff are creative on company time, filtering the net and secondary ownership of software.

Finger-popping good

Japan's latest world-dominating toy craze packages the snap and omits the crackle. Simon Sharwood discovers a valuable lesson on avoiding trivial distraction at work.

Rio Tinto plans $50m outsourcing move

Mining giant Rio Tinto is set to make a $50 million move from Australia to a lower cost computing centre offshore, shifting a crucial portion of its application support work to India.

Solution to job shortfall 'imperative'

The shortfall of Australian skilled technology workers will increase by 29 per cent in the two years to 2010, to reach more than 14,000 unfilled positions - unless the government changes its policy on IT employment, an Australian Computer Society-funded study argues.

Tabcorp bets on outsourcing

Gaming and wagering operator Tabcorp has revealed more than $100 million of computer and communications outsourcing contracts it awarded to Electronic Data Systems and Telstra earlier this year.

NSW beds down $40m tech program

The NSW Department of Health will spend $40 million over four years to introduce computer systems aimed at giving it minute-by-minute information on the number of beds available in the state's 230 public hospitals.

Victoria set for $35m broadband boost

The Victorian government will pump $35 million into upgrading high-speed internet services to rapidly growing regions of the state that are in danger of falling behind in the broadband stakes as their populations grow.

IT chief goes for blend, not bulldozer, after merger

The integration of technology following the merger of mining heavyweights Zinifex and Oxiana in July will take two years, Peter Dean, the executive who has been appointed to run the new company's IT strategy, says.

Commander leaves Canberra unplugged

Fallout from the collapse of listed outsourcer Commander Communications has spread to the federal government as the company's public sector clients grapple with what measures to take to keep their computer operations humming.

Telstra admits to missing migration milestone

Telstra has confessed it has fallen well short of its mid-year goal of moving 5 million customers over to new billing systems it is building as part of a multi-billion-dollar information technology transformation.

ASIC's huge web overhaul due 2010

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has accelerated a $115 million overhaul of its core technology platforms that will see it transfer most of its 20-year-old systems to new web-based technology in less than two years.

Westpac takes fresh tech tack

Westpac Banking Corporation has engineered a dramatic shake-up of its computing and communications division as it prepares for major information technology projects, including a potential high-risk integration with St George Bank and the replacement of its core transactional systems.

Off the shelf

Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It By Elizabeth Royte Scribe, $32.95, 288 pages, ISBN 9781921372131 Global Negotiation: The New Rules By William Hernández Requejo and John l Graham Palgrave macmillan, $55.00, 263 pages, ISBN 9781403984937 Asia-Pacific: A History of Empire and Conflict By Thomas Crump Hambledon Continuum, $55.00, 383 pages, ISBN 9781847252227 Management by Missions By Pablo Cardona and Carlos Rey, Palgrave macmillan, $55.00, 208 pages, ISBN 9780230551527

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