Stories by Derek Slater

This "connector" technology is a crucial element in the integrated enterprise, but it's also a minefield of confusing jargon. Here's a primer

Getting to the truly integrated enterprise should not be a piecemeal journey. You've got to have a vision of where you're going in order to get there

In the battle between Unix and Windows, there's still no winner. Arm yourself with enough information to choose between them

Bucking the industry norm of paper-based loan approvals, HFC completes the process in minutes and raises customer awareness

How do you keep IT in sync with business strategy at a $144 billion global business undergoing a major transformation? Just ask Ford

Once upon a time, selling cars was a matter of personal relationships and negotiation. Then the Web arrived, and all that changed. Better buckle up: It's going to be a bumpy ride.

The Internet Chess Club's pay-to-play formula wins on the Web.

Electricity and gas. Suddenly, it's risky business. Deregulation is forcing utilities to define themselves in new ways and sell themselves to new customers. And the shock of this newness is falling on the power company CIOs.

Virtual private networks may not be totally private-but the price is right.

New enterprise systems management frameworks make controlling distributed computing environments as easy as connecting the dots. So why are CIOs hesitant to take the ESM brush to the IS canvas?

Labour is the priciest aspect of a call centre, so the name of the game has long been pure efficiency: Crank through the highest possible volume of calls with the smallest possible number of agents. Though it sounds like a worthy goal, efficiency carried to extremes often has meant rows of cramped cubicles with phone reps riffling through layer after layer of green-screen windows, hunting for key customer information scattered among myriad databases. Morale is low; eyestrain and turnover are high.

Let's say you've chosen your enterprise resource planning (ERP) package with the utmost care. You've done the cross-functional requirement planning teams, the meticulous change management process, the whole shebang.

Freeware promises to give CIOs control over their computer systems' destiny.Should you join the revolution?

All men are created equal, but off-the-shelf ERP software packages are not. And choosing the right one for your business involves a lot more than you might think.

In this examination of infrastructures built for corporate deftness, readers will learn - Technical considerations for tailoring infrastructure - How data is part of infrastructure - Options for organising personnel