Stories by: Denise Dubie

After Microsoft officially released Windows 7, interest in rapidly adopting the operating system increased for one in five IT pros from small and midsize companies, according to a survey by an IT management company.  

Many IT leaders intend to make high-tech purchases and technology projects a priority in the coming months as plans that had been put on hold during the downturn are prepped for takeoff in 2010.

CA on Wednesday announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire for an undisclosed sum a company called 3Tera, a move that industry watchers say will equip the management software maker with tools to offer customers a smoother transition to private and public cloud computing.

Recent market share statistics deliver good and bad news for Microsoft. The company saw its Internet Explorer browser lose more ground, seemingly to Google Desktop and Chrome, while its Windows 7 operating system quickly gained market acceptance.

Born with a passion for computing, 9-year-old Marko Calasan hasn't wasted any time becoming a high-tech pro with four Microsoft IT certifications.

CIOs working to return to business growth have made technologies such as virtualization, cloud computing, Web 2.0, networking and mobility top priorities for 2010, according to research released Tuesday by Gartner.

IBM garnered 4914 U.S. patents in 2009, setting an all-time high for Big Blue and maintaining its lead against competitors such as Samsung with 3611 patents and Microsoft with 2906.

CA Monday announced it had acquired for an undisclosed sum privately held Oblicore, a maker of service-level management technology that could enable CA to develop IT service catalogue capabilities for customers looking to extend management into cloud computing environments.

BMC Thursday announced it has acquired privately-held Phurnace Software in a deal that BMC says will help it deliver technology to reduce the cost and complexity of deploying Java applications into virtual and cloud environments.

Despite the economic recession that started in 2008, many IT service providers didn't see the expected boon to business in 2009. Some outsourcers struggled to a degree alongside the rest of the high-tech industry, but IT services experts say they started to see a return to growth toward the end of 2009. That means 2010 could find many outsourcing providers taking advantage of hot technology trends such as cloud computing to sell their services into smaller IT shops. Mike Slavin, partner and practice leader for Global IT Advisory Services at outsourcing industry advisory and consulting firm TPI, shares his take on the coming year and the outsourcing industry with Network World Senior Editor Denise Dubie.