Stories by Mary Brandel

As IT picks up the pace, can tech workers keep up?

There's good news and bad news on the salary front for IT professionals this year. With many businesses enjoying renewed growth following an extended period of economic gloom, IT workers saw another year of modest salary increases, and they reported significantly fewer pay cuts, hiring freezes and layoffs.

By Mary Brandel | 10 April, 2012 00:02

Tags: careers, Dice.com, it management

In Search of an Energy Yardstick

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.

By Mary Brandel | 31 January, 2012 04:59

Tags: Configuration / maintenance, Data Center, environment, freemium, Google, Green data center, green IT, hardware systems, infrastructure management, Kaiser Permanente, management, networking, The Green Grid

IT workers' top four dream employers

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?

By Mary Brandel | 20 December, 2011 04:23

Tags: Apple, careers, it management

CIOs describe their ideal job candidates

IT professionals have been through the wringer when it comes to managing their careers. They've had to keep up with ever-changing technology, endure the often painful aftermath of offshoring and outsourcing decisions, and learn new skills -- including communication and other so-called soft skills -- because of the blending of IT with the business. And those are just the biggest challenges they've faced over the years -- and continue to face today.

By Mary Brandel | 20 December, 2011 04:06

Tags: careers, CIO role, freemium, it management

IT workers: Under pressure and underpaid

Who couldn't use some good news these days? John Arnold, CIO at FedMed, a healthcare financial services organization in Rockville, Md., is ready for some. Four years ago, his IT staff was downsized from 14 employees to four, and they have experienced the familiar squeeze of salary freezes and increased workloads.

By Mary Brandel | 05 April, 2011 00:23

Tags: careers, it management

Earth Rangers: Focus on virtualization, geothermal power

"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.

By Mary Brandel | 26 October, 2010 05:35

Tags: Earth Rangers, environment

Open-source software's hidden snags

When CIO Daniel Chan was first prompted to use open-source software, cost savings weren't top of mind.

By Mary Brandel | 11 May, 2010 03:54

Tags: governance, linux., open source, software support

How to manage outsourcers after the contract's ink is dry

When the global trade association SEMI experienced a big revenue decline last year and had to cut staff, CIO Gil McInnes turned to outsourcing.

By Mary Brandel | 09 March, 2010 07:29

Tags: outsourcing

Smartphones need smart security practices

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.

By Mary Brandel | 20 January, 2010 06:44

Tags: security, smart phones

Forecast 2010: 6 hottest skills for 2010

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?

By Mary Brandel | 30 December, 2009 04:13

Tags: it careers, it skills

How hackers find your weak spots

While there are an infinite number of social engineering exploits, typical ones include the following:

By Mary Brandel | 20 October, 2009 03:29

Tags: hackers, security

Cloud computing: Don't get caught without an exit strategy

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.

By Mary Brandel | 04 March, 2009 08:34

Tags: cloud computing

How to avoid 5 common storage mishaps

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.

By Mary Brandel | 10 February, 2009 09:12

Tags: data breach

Glory days: How high school shaped nine IT leaders

Jock? Geek? Artist? Underachiever? Do our high school selves predict our career paths?

By Mary Brandel | 02 December, 2008 08:21

Tags: it leaders

Letting Apple into the enterprise isn't easy

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.

By Mary Brandel | 07 November, 2008 08:28

Tags: Apple

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