Computerworld: Mary Brandel

Whatever happened to Green IT?

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:07:00 GMT

Remember when "green computing" was all the rage? Companies competed for green awards, virtualized their data centers, set up e-waste committees, launched double-sided printing initiatives and activated power management features on PCs.

3 reasons why IT execs need to go out to lunch more

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 27 May 2014 15:08:00 GMT

In the last couple of years, social, mobile, analytics and cloud technologies have risen to the top of many organizations' agendas. IDC calls the combination of these technologies "the third platform" and predicts they will account for 89% of technology spending this year.

How GAF builds customer ties and gives IT staff business skills

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 19:50:00 GMT

GAF trains IT staffers in people skills and sends them to the field to collaborate with clients.

Top perks that IT professionals should ask for

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 13:59:00 GMT

You've been slaving away at your job since the economic downturn, taking on more work with no raise in pay and believing a light would one day appear at the end of the tunnel. According to both DICE and Robert Half Technology, that day is here.

How to keep your Millennials happy

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 13 Jan 2014 15:01:00 GMT

The much-anticipated wave of Millennials is upon us, with their addiction to social media, their attachment to consumer devices and their merging of work and personal lives.

Why 'Innovation Management' Isn't an Oxymoron

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 15:38:00 GMT

To foster innovation, IT leaders must balance blue-sky thinking and practical goals. However, balancing structure and creativity, often means designing new processes.

5 ways that BYOD is shaking up tech support

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 15:00:00 GMT

Amid the clamor of "bring your own device" (BYOD), a question lurks in the background: "What happens to technical service and support?" Concerns for the tech support function encompass the extremes, from agents being overwhelmed with calls, to their becoming inhabitants of a help desk ghost town.

8 hot IT skills for 2014

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 10:00:00 GMT

The list of IT skills that will be most in demand next year leads off with programming and application development, according to Computerworld's Forecast 2014 survey.

6 tips for finding mobile app talent

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 19:55:00 GMT

To understand what's hot in the IT job market today, just ask yourself a simple question: When is the last time you checked your mobile device or used the mobile Web?

Do's and don'ts of summer resume writing

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 13:22:00 GMT

The summer months can take on different meanings for job seekers. Some people may put their career aspirations on hold as they try to enjoy the longer daylight hours and (hopefully) vacation time. Others might take advantage of the emptier offices and distracted peers to ignite or jumpstart a job search. Either way, summer is not a bad time to spruce up your resume, especially with recent reports sending mostly positive signals about the hiring outlook.

How to become an IT innovator

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:12:00 GMT

Innovation has become a top concern for companies seeking a competitive edge in today's business world, especially as more organizations face new competitors that are using technology as a business disruptor.

How enterprise IT gets creative

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 10:00:00 GMT

Creativity is as hard to define as it is to capture, but it's the driving force in top-tier organizations. Here's how five big enterprises are seizing opportunities for innovation and gaining competitive advantage in the process.

Mobile devices: Too much of a good thing?

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 06 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

Most of us have apparently decided we can't live without our favorite mobile device. Whether on public transportation, shopping or just walking down the street, you're more likely than not to be surrounded by people swiping screens, adjusting their earbuds or typing on a virtual screen.

So you want to be a data scientist?

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:30:00 GMT

After months of high unemployment and a still-wobbly economy, any good news from the jobs market is going to get some traction. But even that doesn't seem to fully explain the attention surrounding a suddenly very "in" job title: data scientist.

IT gets its groove back

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:00:00 GMT

The 2013 Computerworld Salary Survey finds tech professionals feeling pretty good about their compensation and career prospects, though workloads remain high.

Computerworld's 2013 IT Salary Survey: Highlights

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 10:00:00 GMT

Computerworld's survey of more than 4,000 tech professionals shows optimism is running high -- but not everyone is riding the wave. Here's a rundown of how workers are feeling.

6 must-read books to ignite your IT career

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:12:00 GMT

With companies running lean and mean, professional development has increasingly become an individual sport. IT workers have learned to fend for themselves to develop needed skills and gain new mindsets for managing more effectively and adding more value to the workplace.

Career advice that will change your life

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:51:00 GMT

These days, free advice can be found everywhere, from your various social networks to your favorite advice column. But truly valuable advice typically comes from your peers or people who've made it to a career or life position that you'd like to get to someday.

IT pros reveal the best career advice they ever received

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:45:00 GMT

In today's culture, advice on nearly any topic - relationships, health, career - is just a mouse click, touchscreen tap or Siri query away. There's even a Web site called shouldidoit.com that promises to help you make decisions in your daily life. But while you can get some good insights on the many expert and general discussion forums that pop up on the Web, there's often a sense that something is missing from that experience. Call it the human touch.

Fave-reads: 5 must-read books for IT career growth

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:33:00 GMT

Let's face it -- when it comes to IT professional development, books might be the last place people turn. With webinars, online forums, blogs, Web sites, bootcamps and social media, books would seem like a last resort.

BYOD: Where the costs are

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:37:00 GMT

Few technology trends have inspired as many misgivings -- and as much misinformation - as BYOD, or "bring your own device." Is the idea of allowing employees to purchase and use their own laptops and mobile devices a security nightmare? A productivity boon? A drain on the service desk? And perhaps the biggest question of all, a cost-savings nirvana?

Seven BYOD policy essentials

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:12:00 GMT

Like it or not, the "bring your own device" (BYOD) trend is in full swing. According to Juniper Research, the number of employee-owned smartphones and tablets used in businesses will more than double by 2014, reaching 350 million compared with almost 150 million this year.

Forecast 2013: Building a better IT budget

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:00:00 GMT

As IT budgets bounce back, the fiscal picture is looking rosier in many IT shops. But lessons learned from the recession are not easily forgotten, and smart IT executives are carefully constructing their budgets for 2013 with big-payback projects in mind.

5 career-boosting soft skills

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 15:10:00 GMT

Soft skills are not a new concept for IT. But time has run out for IT professionals who have been avoiding developing them. Now that technology is an integral part of business strategy, very few employers would settle for a candidate who could not function beyond the computer screen. And with teamwork and collaboration a mainstay of many work environments, personal interactions count, even within IT itself.

Applying technology to boost customer loyalty

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Guesswork no longer cuts it for companies trying to secure customer loyalty. Read how three businesses use analytics software to understand, respond to and even predict buyer behavior.

6 hottest IT certifications

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 14:54:00 GMT

IT professionals have always sought out certifications to give them a leg up in their career advancement efforts. But anecdotal evidence suggests that in today's job market, having a broad array of certifications is even more important for giving job-seekers a needed edge.

Forecast for systems administrators: Cloudy

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Cloud computing and virtualization are redefining the role of the systems administrator. Here's how smart sysadmins are staying ahead out of the wave.

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

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 10:00:00 GMT

A long-awaited resurgence in the IT industry holds both promise and peril for the tech workforce.

How to fight check fraud

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:06:00 GMT

Thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology and ongoing economic uncertainty, all types of fraud are flourishing today, including check fraud. The prevalence of mobile and wireless technologies and the increasing ease of access to high-quality printing and duplication technology are making it easier for criminals to steal credentials, alter check numbers and create counterfeit checks.

APT in action: The Heartland breach

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:19:00 GMT

Heartland Payment Systems CTO Kris Herrin talks about the attack that changed his views on data security

Green IT: In search of an energy yardstick

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:00 GMT

We take a comprehensive look at the new green-IT metrics for measuring data center efficiency and productivity from The Green Grid and other industry groups. Insider, registration required.

CIOs describe their ideal job candidates

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Thanks to rapid-fire industry change, it's hard for IT workers to plan their careers. We asked four IT leaders about their current hiring needs and the "dream" resumes of candidates who could fill those positions. (Insider, registration required.)

IT workers' top 4 dream employers

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:00:00 GMT

Computerworld asked 431 IT workers where they dream of working someday. Here's a look at the work environments of the four companies that came out on top.

IT gets energized with budget upticks

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 10:00:00 GMT

Tech budgets are edging up and major purchases are on the rise. In 2012, IT leaders shake off the recession and get back to form with money-saving projects. Insider (registration required)

Open source's people problem

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:00:00 GMT

More companies are turning to open source, but they're also struggling to develop in-house open-source skills while keeping training costs down.

Government agencies make move to desktop virtualization

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:35:00 GMT

Interest is growing in desktop virtualization, especially for government agencies, where the main drivers are better manageability and lower costs. Here's a look at three local and federal agencies that are making the first moves into desktop virtualization.

IT workers: Under pressure and underpaid

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 10:00:00 GMT

IT employees are growing increasingly dissatisfied with their pay, yet they're expected to continue to ratchet up productivity. Computerworld's 25th annual Salary Survey reveals why they're at the breaking point.

Salaries stall, workloads rise, and IT gets squeezed

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:00:00 GMT

Everything having to do with IT compensation is wrong-side up this year: Bonuses and benefits are way down, and workload and work hours are up. Meanwhile, salaries are stagnant, and -- not surprisingly -- satisfaction is on the wane. Read results from our survey of nearly 5,000 IT workers at every job level for advice on how to ease the pain.

IT centralization is back in fashion

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Over the years, the pendulum has swung between centralized and decentralized IT operations. There's now evidence of a shift toward centralization, as CIOs try to gain efficiencies of scale, but it's possible to go too far.

Got a mobile strategy? Start connecting with customers' smartphones

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:00:00 GMT

It's becoming mandatory to offer your customers smartphone apps and a mobile version of your Web site. Here are tips on how to avoid the pioneers' missteps. Hint: Simplicity is key.

Marketing IT: Sell your services internally, win more respect

marybrandel@verizon.net (Mary Brandel) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:01:00 GMT

Learning to market your IT services in-house will demonstrate IT's value and build respect -- and may even keep the outsourcers away. Here are some tips.