Stories by: Mary Brandel

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In Search of an Energy Yardstick 31 January, 2012 04:59:39

Earlier this fall, Google made an announcement that in many ways foretells the future of data center efficiency metrics. The search giant not only disclosed its total power consumption and carbon emissions (mostly attributable to its data centers), but also released estimates of its per-user and per-search energy consumption. With this information -- and given that a billion Google searches occur per day -- it was possible to calculate that searches account for 12.5 million watts of the company's 260 million watt total.
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IT workers' top four dream employers 20 December, 2011 04:23:00

Companies often talk about their "dream" IT job candidate -- the type of worker they'd most like to have on their staffs. But what about the IT workers themselves -- what type of company are they most interested in?
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Earth Rangers: Focus on virtualization, geothermal power 26 October, 2010 05:35:00

"Bring Back the Wild" -- that's the mission of Earth Rangers, an innovative nonprofit organization that works to educate kids about environmental threats. Its goal is to inspire kids -- the "chief inheritors of environmental destruction," as its Web site says -- to become a powerful part of the solution by working to protect endangered species and their habitats.
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Open-source software's hidden snags 11 May, 2010 03:54:00

When CIO Daniel Chan was first prompted to use open-source software, cost savings weren't top of mind.
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How to manage outsourcers after the contract's ink is dry 09 March, 2010 07:29:00

When the global trade association SEMI experienced a big revenue decline last year and had to cut staff, CIO Gil McInnes turned to outsourcing.
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Smartphones need smart security practices 20 January, 2010 06:44:00

As vice president of IT at Windsor Foods in Houston, Stephan Henze has to stay one step ahead of the latest IT trends. That's why he's spending a lot of time thinking about securing and deploying smartphones enterprisewide.
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Forecast 2010: 6 hottest skills for 2010 30 December, 2009 04:13:00

Pent-up demand for new projects. Veteran employees leaving the company. Who could complain about such pressures in the waning months of 2009, when the year was spent under a cloud of economic misery?
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How hackers find your weak spots 20 October, 2009 03:29:00

While there are an infinite number of social engineering exploits, typical ones include the following:
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Cloud computing: Don't get caught without an exit strategy 04 March, 2009 08:34:00

When the IT world looks back at 2008, it will certainly remember the global financial crisis. But it will also likely link that time frame with the takeoff of cloud computing, the engine behind more conferences, conversations and marketing collateral than seemingly any other technology in development today.
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How to avoid 5 common storage mishaps 10 February, 2009 09:12:00

Think you can guess the No. 1 threat to the security of your stored data? If you said hackers, or even trouble-making insiders, you'd be wrong. While malicious threats are an ongoing concern, it's your well-meaning employees who are more likely to unknowingly expose your company's stored data through, say, a file-sharing network or a misplaced laptop.
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Letting Apple into the enterprise isn't easy 07 November, 2008 08:28:00

Eighteen months ago, Serena Software began exploring the feasibility of supporting Apple MacBooks as an option for its users, most of whom are developers. It was interested in lowering support costs and increasing satisfaction among employees who used Macs at home, including the CEO.