Page Petry of Marriott International Ask a Premier 100 IT Leader Page Petry Title: Chief information resources officer for the Americas Company: Marriott International

WASHINGTON -- Until President Barack Obama responded to a question about H-1B visas during an online forum last week, the administration had said little about the controversial program.

Yahoo! chairman Roy Bostock is stepping down from the board of the struggling internet company along with three other directors.

Serious technical problems that have delayed the rollout of an upgrade to SAP's community portal are persisting, to the point where the company is no longer specifying a launch date.

Every corporation wants an effective workforce, but few want to pay for the training that can give them one. Some executives seem to believe that their IT staff should be able to keep up with new ideas and technology on their own time, with minimal corporate financial support. Those organizations that do support training and education tend to do so only in good times, so those items are often among the first to be slashed when IT budgets get tight.

The White House is following up on an offer made by President Barack Obama this week to help find a job for an unemployed semiconductor engineer in Texas. The offer was made during a live online town hall after the engineer's wife questioned the government's policy concerning H-1B visa workers.

Westpac Banking Corporation is poised to axe more than 400 jobs and send another 150 offshore in the latest round of job cuts at the big banks.

WASHINGTON -- A newly filed U.S. House bill would require that U.S. public companies disclose the number of workers they employ in the U.S., and the number that work overseas.

Running the internal IT operations of Cisco Systems is a big job not just because of the size of the company -- more than 70,000 employees worldwide and a market capitalisation in the range of $US100 billion -- but also because Cisco is continually developing new IT products across a broad range of technologies and is known for rapidly adopting those products for its own use. Cisco CIO Rebecca Jacoby spoke with IDG News Service on the sidelines of the NetWork conference last week and shared some insights into the legendary enterprise IT company's own enterprise IT.

What does an average work day involve for you at Austereo? The average day at Austereo is an adventure. It's a combination of managing daily operational needs and activities and taking on the new challenges associated with an organisation that continually pushes itself and the traditional boundaries of our industry.

A lot of technology professionals are frustrated with the IT profession. They can't find a job or move into the position that they want. They're always hearing that demand exists, but that's not what their personal experience has shown them. They feel they have the skills for the job, and have even put in the time it takes to be qualified or certified in the technologies in demand. But the requirements for IT career development remain elusive.

Kristine Harper and her father, Tom, both work on mainframe computers. BOSTON - Kristine Harper was about 12-years-old when her father took her to his office to take part of a "take your daughter to work day." Tom Harper said his daughter was less than enthusiastic about his profession that day.

For a device with "smart" in its name, a smartphone sure can help you do a lot of stupid things. Whether it's racking up thousands of dollars in international roaming fees or encouraging dozens of eye rolls with your misrouted voice dialing -- I'm looking at you, guy who calls Ben O'Lynn in accounting every time he means to call Bennigan's for lunch -- our modern-day mobile devices provide plenty of opportunities for tech-tinged embarrassment.

So you arrive at a big job interview confident and prepared. It starts off strong. Conversation flows smoothly. You're saying all the right things.

Tanya Harris was head of human resources at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in Wellington when she made a lateral career move.

IT professionals asked to do more work for less pay and fewer benefits might be able to forgive their employers' financial choices, but industry watchers say high-tech workers won't soon forget being treated poorly during the most recent economic recession and will look to find other employment opportunities as soon as the recovery gets under way.

It's been really difficult using the Force to convince your HR manager or boss to see things your way: Your threats of turning fellow workers to the Dark Side sound hollow and that Jedi mind trick you've been working on for the past six months doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere. Your big promotion? You might as well be working in the Spice Mines of Kessel.

In recent days, "less bad" has become the favored description of much of the economy, including the IT industry. However, the number of positions needed for efficient operation of data centers has remained strong, continuing to show overall growth even in a down economy.