Nine Web sites IT pros should master in 2009

Nine Web sites IT pros should master in 2009: "

Heres a time-saver for IT executives swamped by last-minute budget cuts and end-of-the-year performance reviews: Weve written your 2009 goals for you, with our list of nine Web sites you need to study during the next 12 months.

This list is not for geeks. It’s for IT professionals of a certain age, who don’t spend every waking hour online but need to keep up with the latest innovations on the Internet.

[ Want more career pointers?Spruce up your resume with our tips for techies. | Keep up on the latest tech news headlines at InfoWorld News, or subscribe to the Todays Headlines newsletter. ]

Master these Web sites, and you’ll prove you can innovate during the most trying economic times. And you’ll do it more efficiently than your 20-something employees, who waste too much time chasing the new, new thing on the Internet that may not survive the downturn.

1. LinkedIn
Forget Facebook. In the last six months, LinkedIn has become the de rigueur Web 2.0 site for IT professionals. LinkedIn has 30 million members, almost double what it had a year ago. And it raised more than $75 million in venture capital during 2008, so it has staying power. It has a host of new features that make it the most productive networking site on the Web. Spend some time updating your LinkedIn profile and reaching out to current and former colleagues. You can show your boss that you’re well connected, and you’ll be ready in case you’re on the next layoff list. In 2008, LinkedIn made our list of the 20 most useful social networking sites on the Web.

2. Google Apps for Business
Call it what you like-- software as a service or cloud computing-- but it’s the future of enterprise IT departments, and you need to get on board with it. You’ll be under more pressure than ever in 2009 to find cheaper ways to deliver IT services. One way to do that is to pilot a Google Apps project, such as document sharing via GoogleDocs or video sharing via Google Video. Your staff can build one of these collaboration projects in a jiffy, and the information will be available to employees from any location on any computer. Among Google Apps proponents: The District of Columbia government.

3. VMware Communities
Chances are you’ve already embarked on a server virtualization project, and continued consolidation of your servers is a key money-saving goal for 2009. Most of you are using VMware for your server virtualization projects, and our product reviewers recommend you stick with VMware over Microsoft’s Hyper-V for the foreseeable future. To get the best real-world feedback on how best to deploy VMware, keep your eyes on the VMware Communities Web site. It’s got user groups in your community and lots of tips from other VMware developers that can help you solve problems faster.

4. Secunia
Security will continue to be a top priority for 2009, but you’ll need to figure out how to do it on the cheap. That’s where Secunia.com comes in. This site aggregates security vulnerability information from leading vendors, providing you with one-stop shopping for the latest news about security bugs and the software patches available to fix them. The site has an active community of IT security folks who can help you fix operating systems and applications before you get attacked. Secunia made our list of 20 useful IT security Web sites in 2008.

5. Green Grid
With the economy in shambles and energy prices plummeting, you’re likely to hear a lot less about global climate change and carbon neutral business operations than you did six months ago. Nonetheless, green IT can still be a huge advantage for IT departments because it will save you money. Plain and simple: Green IT saves greenbacks. So get to know the Green Grid’s Web site and make sure that whatever you buy in 2009 for your datacenters is in line with their advice and metrics. Here’s more information about the Green Grid along with three other organizations that offer advice about lowering datacenter power consumption.

6. Twitter
At first glance, Twitter seems like a colossal waste of time. But the fact is this real-time messaging service is taking off in IT circles. And if you don’t jump on the bandwagon soon, you might be too late. Twitter provides an easy way to keep your staff and coworkers informed about where you are and what you’re doing. You can also sign up for the latest technology headlines from Wired, Slashdot, and others. It doesn’t take long to sign up for Twitter --give it a whirl so that you’ll know what your Generation Y employees are talking about. See 20 must-follow Twitter feeds here.

7. Yammer
If Twitter seems too frivolous to you, try Yammer. It’s essentially Twitter for the office. The benefit of Yammer is that it’s a private communications channel for coworkers to share quick messages about what they’re working on, get questions answered, or blast out news. Xerox and Cisco are among the 200-plus companies enjoying improved collaboration thanks to Yammer. One benefit of Yammer over Twitter: It seems to have a sustainable business model.

8. Ruby on Rails
Ruby on Rails is one of the best open source tools to appear in recent years. This Web development framework lets you create working applications in a matter of hours. Advocates of this development platform include the New York Times, Yellowpages.com, Twitter, and Hulu. See 15 amazing Web applications built with Ruby on Rails here. Version 2.2 of Ruby on Rails came out in November, so you don’t have to worry about being on the bleeding edge.

9. Enterprise Mobility Matters
Like it or not, the latest smartphones-- the BlackBerry Storms and Apple 3G iPhones (slideshow: Smartphone showdown: iPhone vs. BlackBerry Storm )-- are headed toward your corporate network. So you better get ready to protect sensitive corporate information from the risks that these consumer devices open up. If you don’t want to encrypt them, make sure you have centralized control over them so that you can wipe data from lost or stolen cell phones. We like the Enterprise Mobility Matters Web site from market research firm Strategy Analytics because it offers a comprehensive look at enterprise mobility issues.

Network World is an InfoWorld affiliate.

"

(Via InfoWorld RSS Feed.)

Read AND Write NTFS Hard Drives Partitions on a Mac for Free

Okay, this is just becoming too cool, MacFuse has kicked off lots of other great projects too (like being able to mount SSH-enabled file servers as network drives) but this is great!

Read AND Write NTFS Hard Drives Partitions on a Mac for Free: "I sometimes want to move large files (digital video home movies and virtual hard disks) between my Mac and my PC. Unfortunately, OS X can read NTFS but not write to it. Fortunately, the free and Open Source NTFS-3G combined with MacFUSE solves this issue very nicely.
"

(Via Clippings.)

How to secure your Vista PC in 10 easy steps

How to secure your Vista PC in 10 easy steps: "You don't necessarily need an expensive security suite to lock down Windows Vista. Here's how to do it using free software and a few easy system tweaks.










"

(Via Clippings.)

5 top tips for new iPhone users

5 top tips for new iPhone users: "Got a shiny new iPhone 3G? Try these tips to get the most out of your new toy -- er, tool.










"

(Via Clippings.)

Disable Outlook's address-autocomplete feature

Disable Outlook's address-autocomplete feature: "

I didn't realize how much I had come to rely on Microsoft Outlook's ability to automatically complete the e-mail addresses I entered in the To:, Cc:, and Bcc: fields until a recent Microsoft Exchange server update at my office wiped out the entries. Of course, one person's ...

"

(Via Clippings.)

The best tech lists of 2008

Okay, now this is fun!

The best tech lists of 2008: "

Year-in-review lists are all the rage right now. Everyones counting down the top this-or-that of 2008, and amidst the noise, theres some pretty interesting content out there. I dug through dozens of tech-related 'top of 2008' lists to find the cream of the crop. Here are 10 stories that stood out from the rest -- and no, I didnt include this page as one of them.

1. 50 Wonderfully Geeky Moments of 2008 (Asylum)
From the government using 'World of Warcraft' to track terrorists to a Hollywood hotties reluctance to get up close and personal at Comic-Con, the folks at AOLs Asylum blog found 50 fun and funny geek-friendly moments from the year. Theres plenty here to keep you busy and entertained. Oh, and the first slide shows Megan Fox wearing a rather tight and short Star Wars shirt. Enough said.

2. Most Viewed Photos of 2008 (National Geographic)
A pictures worth a thousand words, as the saying goes, and National Geographic knows how to capture a moment in an image. The magazine put together a compilation of its 10 most viewed online photo galleries of 2008. One photo tells the story of Hurricane Ike through the face of a single woman; another shows an alien-like squid creature observed at an oil drilling site (a Digg favorite ). These are some images worth revisiting or seeing for the first time.

3. Top 12 Tech Embarrassment of 2008 (TechCult)
2008 had its share of tech-related slip-ups, and nows the time to look back and laugh (or cringe). Whether its the years 'Most Embarrassing Service Lifespan' -- congrats, Lively by Google -- or an NFL players all-baring blog in the 'Most Embarrassing Online Exposure' category, youre bound to find a chuckle in this collection. Also, I hear the writer is one hell of a guy, and far too modest to ever do something like put his own story into a 'top 10' list.

4. Best of 2008 Plus the Peoples Choice (CrunchGear)
From the lowlights to the highlights, CrunchGears 'Best of 2008' takes you through the years best and brightest from the world of tech. The writers from TechCrunchs sister site weigh in with their professional opinions, then present the results of a public poll -- and the two views dont always match up. In the 'Best Phone' award, for example, the staff picks the Android-based T-Mobile G1, while the people pick the iPhone 3G. Surf on over and get in on the debate.

5. 24 Most Underrated Web Sites of 2008 (Mashable)
So many year-ender lists tackle big name products and stories. Mashable takes a different approach by focusing on two dozen new Web sites that didnt get their deserved day in the spotlight. The list profiles some promising startups you might not have seen, such as a site that lets you hear words pronounced in practically any language by a native speaker. '24 Most Underrated' is an interesting read that stands out from the rest.

6. Most Popular Free Mac Downloads / Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2008 (LifeHacker)
Perhaps the most practical entry of this list, LifeHackers duo of 'Most Popular Free Downloads' presents the most popular free programs downloaded by Windows and Mac users over the past year (using the sites own traffic measurement as a guide). Youll find tools like a PDF to Word document converter, a simple audio/video file converter, and an open source challenger to the iTunes beast.

7. 101 Most Essential iPhone Apps of 2008 (MacLife)
Love it or hate it, theres no denying 2008 was the year of the iPhone -- and, of course, the endless piles of apps. The guys at MacLife went through the App Stores thousands of options and picked out 101 of the best options available. This exhaustive compilation is well worth a read for any iPhone fanatic.

8. 10 Most Disappointing Games of 2008 (Wired)
Its easy to look to the bottom of the barrel for a 'worst of' list. In evaluating the years most disappointing games, though, Wired started at the top. The staff searched for titles that just didnt deliver what they should have -- offerings such as Mario Kart Wii, which is described as 'fail[ing] to innovate in any meaningful way over earlier entries in the series.' Ouch...that stings. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Spore are among the other picks for most underwhelming.

9. Quotes of Note From 2008 (PC World)
Kids say the darndest things -- and so, apparently, do high-ranking tech executives. This collection of notable quotes from 2008 covers a lot of ground, ranging from Larry Ellisons cloud computing admission to Linux mastermind Linus Torvalds 'masturbating monkey' reference while discussing security vulnerabilities. Add in the talk of space elevators and male enhancement e-mails, and youll see why this story made the cut.

10. The 2008 Colbert Gadget Guide (Comedy Central)
What better way to end our list than with a wisecracking review of 2008s gadgets and games? Stephen Colberts 'Gadget Guide' features some of the finest tech-related moments from Colberts Comedy Central show, all presented in embedded video form. Watch Rush try to play its own 'Tom Sawyer' on Rock Band, check out Colberts take on the recently unveiled self-driving car, and see why the 'shoe phone' may be Apples next big seller. Take a bite out of that, Steve Jobs.

So there you have it -- 10 of the finest 'top of 2008' lists in tech. Of course, narrowing down the Webs wealth of year-end reviews is no exact science. Think I missed a worthy winner? Leave your link and review in the comments section below.

PC World is an InfoWorld affiliate.

"

(Via Clippings.)

The Broken Window Effect

Mr. Halamka really nails this one--this is an excellent point about how one decline can be ignored and lead to another. This isn't just with technology but it's true of home/car maintenance, personal health, relationships, etc. Great post!

The Broken Window Effect: "As an adult I've returned to various locations from my childhood and found the white picket fences, station wagons, and neighborhood shops transformed into rough, run down, and unsafe neighborhoods. This did not happen overnight. What happened in these places is the same thing that can happen in a business or your personal life. I call it the 'Broken Window Effect'

Imagine the perfect 'Lake Wobegone' neighborhood where everything is above average. A baseball goes through a window, but the owner decides not to fix it. Then, because the house looks a bit shabby, another neighbor leaves a junked car on the street. Then a bit of graffiti is not cleaned up. Then folks stop picking up garbage from their yards.

The can happen inside a house. One pile on the floor doesn't take too much room, so a few more piles are put around it. Before long, all floor spaces have piles on them. Maintenance items are deferred and junk is not tossed. Years pass and eventually the house is unhealthy to live in, but no one really notices because it happened so gradually.

In IT organizations the Broken Window Effect can occur when management begins to tolerate downtime, constant workarounds, and broken processes.

How do we prevent the Broken Window Effect?

Every downtime incident is investigated within hours of the problem, and a full report is issued to our weekly change control board meeting. The meeting is not punitive, it is a learning environment attended by all my technical managers so that the entire organization can learn together. Questions include

Was there a process failure?
Was there a training failure?
Was there a policy failure?
Was there a planning failure?
Was there a lifecycle maintenance failure?

By examining ever incident when it happens and by building a culture that encourages constant improvement based on collective sharing of our experiences, we ensure that 'broken windows' are fixed and that problem recurrence is minimized.

The change control board was created after my Network collapse in 2002 because at that time we discovered several aspects of the IS organization that needed improvement such as

Lack of transparency to downtime with details not openly shared among all groups
Silos of technical knowledge
A tendency to work around and patch rather than identify and correct root causes of problems
A lack of planning projects as a coordinated whole with all services - applications, networks, servers, storage, desktop - considered components of a single comprehensive implementation.

The change control board is so rigorous that even I can get into trouble. I recently implemented a health information exchange application update and did not discuss it at the change control board. Thinking that it was just a minor update, I assumed that there were no infrastructure implications. However, given the fact that the application exchanges data securely outside our firewall, involves databases, integration engines, and application teams, it was important to brief everyone first. My next directors meeting will include an overview of all our health information exchange projects - past, present and future - for all IS stakeholders.

On a personal level, I also try to avoid the broken window effect by renewing/maintaining all aspects of my life ie.

I erase all emails older than 90 days and all files older than 1 year. It's really rare that issue has not been resolved after 90 days or someone requests a file older than a year.

I replace my laptop every 2 years

I replace my blackberry every 2 years

I replace my clothes every 3 years

I keep no paper of any kind in my office and very little in my home. All my reading materials are digital.

Every season has its activities that lead to renewal - Spring house cleaning, Summer planting, Fall yard cleanup, Winterization to prep the house for cold weather.

Whether it's your neighborhood, your home or your office, I recommend you stay vigilant for the Broken Window Effect. Fixing all those broken windows keeps everyone engaged in renewal."

(Via Clippings.)

Microsoft kicks fake security software off 400,000 PCs

Glad to see Microsoft doing this, some of these things can be a hassle to remove as they embed themselves pretty deep. The shortcut to Microsoft's latest Malicious Software Removal Tool is here.

Microsoft kicks fake security software off 400,000 PCs: "

In the second month of a campaign against fake security software, Microsoft has booted the rogue application 'Antivirus 2009' from almost 400,000 PCs, the company recently claimed.

Decembers version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), a free utility that Microsoft pushes to Windows users as part ofPatch Tuesday , targeted one of the most popular phony security app, Antivirus 2009. According to Microsoft, the MSRT erased the fake from over 394,000 PCs in the first nine days after it released this months edition on Dec. 9.

[ Learn how to secure your systems with Roger Grimes Security Adviser blog and newsletter, both from InfoWorld. ]

Last month, Microsoft trumpeted a similar cleaning operation against another family of bogus security software that it said had purged nearly a million machines of programs like 'Advanced Antivirus,' 'Ultimate Antivirus 2008,' and 'XPert Antivirus.'

Decembers campaign targeted a different family -- dubbed 'W32/FakeXPA' by Microsoft -- that includes fake security software going by names such as 'Antivirus XP,' 'AntivirusXP 2008' and 'Antivirus 2009.'

Windows users increasingly have been plagued with worthless security software as criminals bundle the money makers with other malware or seed significant users with waves of spam touting the programs. According to one researcher, cybercrooks can pull in as much as $5 million a year by installing the rogue programs on PCs, then dunning users with infection claims and constant pop-ups until the victims pay $40 or $50 to purchase the useless applications.

Microsoft also aimed the December version of MSRT at an affiliated piece of malware, called 'W32/Yektel,' that works alongside W32FakeXPA and is often bundled with the phony security software.

Classified by Microsoft as a Trojan horse, Yektel takes advantage of users worries about browser security by inserting false warnings into Internet Explorer . Those warnings, explained Microsoft researcher Hamish ODea in a post to the companys malware protection center blog two weeks ago, appear at random and mimic IEs own legitimate drop-down alerts.

Newer variations of the Yektel Trojan go a step further, and insert phony warnings into Google search results, said ODea. Whenever these even-sneakier versions detect IE rendering a URL that includes 'google,' it inserts a fake message that reads 'Google has detected unregistered Antivirus 2009 copy on your computer. Google recommends you activate Antivirus 2009 to protect your PC from malicious intrusions from the Internet.'

The links from Yektels IE and Google warnings, of course, take users to a Web site where users are urged to pay $50 to register Antivirus 2009.

Windows users can download the MSRT manually from Microsofts Web site or via the Windows Update service.

Computerworld is an InfoWorld affiliate.

"

(Via InfoWorld RSS Feed.)

10 New Year’s resolutions for IT pros

10 New Year’s resolutions for IT pros: "

With 2009 about to roll in, this is a good time to look at ways of making your IT organization better. Specific resolutions will be unique to every environment, but these goals make sense for just about any IT group.

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The beginning of a new year provides a great opportunity to refine some of the finer IT practices and to engage new technologies to keep our collective juggernaut rolling. Here are some pointers to consider for the coming year.

Note: This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: Get realistic about cross-training

Cross-training is a great concept, but how many IT shops actually have a fully cross-trained group? I am convinced that at this juncture in IT, it has become impossible to fully achieve. One strategy is to establish a primary and secondary resource and invest the time and training required to fully cross-train for each major discipline. One example would be a Microsoft Exchange environment: Sure, every administrator can make and remove accounts, but what do you do about Exchange log file, database, and message queue issues? In this situation, training a secondary staff member to be ready to step in for these tougher questions might be a realistic approach for achieving cross-training for all systems and platforms.

#2: Go the extra mile in virtualization

Take a step back and see where you are in regard to virtualization. Are there systems that can be virtualized — but little things are preventing it? This may be the time to resolve these issues, such as USB license keys or large storage, before the physical system’s failure causes a bigger issue. Where is the next virtual frontier for your environment? Virtualized networking with virtual IP addresses, virtual desktops, or possibly application virtualization may benefit your organization. In today’s environment, virtualization is more than just a way to save power in the data center.

#3: Push back when needed

It seems as though every IT organization is stretched to the limit in today’s economic climate. This includes budget pressure, cost control, staff burnout, staff resources, and of course the technology itself. With the pace of IT and the demands associated with it, it may be time to say, ‘No, we can’t provide that with the current resources.’ Of course, there can be consequences with taking a stand like this, but there has to be a limit. One way to help solidify your position is to seek numbers from the large IT analyst groups like Gartner that quantify how many staff resources an organization of your size and type may contain. This third-party view can help the requestors and the funders get the picture that more needs to be provided or less needs to be requested with regard to what IT can and cannot do.

#4: Get going on 64-bit adoption

Given the current hardware environment, operating systems and core applications are offering 64-bit platforms now more than ever. Some of the initial growing pains that went along with 64-bit systems have been addressed, including driver issues, backups, and antivirus software that was slow to be fully compatible with 64-bit platforms. One compelling example of why it’s time to adopt 64-bit operating systems and applications is the forthcoming Windows Server 2008 R2 release, which will be available only in the x64 version. (However, the x86 Windows Server 2008 initial release does have x86 support.)

#5: Fix the rounded corners

We all are overworked, and we don’t have enough time to get everything done. One consequence of this workload is rounded corners in the small things that make IT work well. Have we documented everything fully that was implemented in 2008? Have we finished removing test servers, accounts, or programs that are no longer in use? Chances are, there are small details that need some attention to clean up the environment to improve the overall quality of IT.

#6: Design and implement new systems with built-in disaster recovery

There is no finer feeling than implementing a new solution that has built-in disaster recovery (DR), especially if it is across two data centers. This can be achieved using technologies such as a virtual IP address to load-balance traffic across two or more systems, virtualization, clustering, and other mechanisms. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for DR, so a system may frequently have a combination of DR technologies to provide the overall solution. An example would be a Web-based service that resides on two virtual machines and is assigned a DNS name of a virtual IP address, which is load-balanced between the two Web servers that connect to a mirrored database.

#7: Automate the little things

Do we really need to jump through so many hoops to change a DNS entry? How about the effort it takes to page someone for assistance with a server? Now is a great time to invest in small automated mechanisms that can take away the burden of such tasks. The open source software space has a great offering of tools that can automate e-mail for certain events, provide paging services, and more. With some of the new technologies like Windows Server 2008 core edition, we may make an automated solution that is simply a .BAT file, Perl script, or a PowerShell script — that is okay in 2009!

#8: Knock out the old operating systems

Windows NT, Windows 2000 — they are out there. This may be the right time to get rid of them. But it is not always that simple. First of all, if these systems need to remain, they can probably be a virtual machine. Hardware from the pre-2003 era can easily be accommodated as a virtual machine in most circumstances. That, however, leads to the other symptom. If these older OSes are made a virtual machine, the pressure is really off to remove that platform. So take great care in deciding what is kept and what needs to go. For the platforms that need to be removed, determine what needs to happen to make the system go away.

This also applies to the old hardware out there: Take a walk through your data center and tell yourself, ‘It’s 2009. Is this equipment a risk point for me? If so, what needs to happen to knock it out?’

#9: Get involved in some sort of peer program

Chances are, other IT pros are out there doing what you are doing or are about to do. There is no better advice than hearing the unbiased answers concerning what others have done to address a problem or need that applies to you. Seek out a local group, such as the VMware Users Group (VMUG) program, or other user groups that collect like-minded people to talk about the issues relevant to the market today. In a way, it’s better to actually go to these types of events, if they are close and accessible. Simply joining a conference call or reading a forum doesn’t engage in the same fashion as a live event. Plus the snacks are usually better in person.

#10: Delegate as needed

For most environments, the number of systems and processes in which IT is involved has grown immensely in the past few years. In my experiences, there is a line between infrastructure teams and the rest of IT and the business as a whole. Not necessarily a barrier, but a dividing point, where responsibility exchanges from one group to another. For these situations, delegating control to those responsible (from the business or development team) should be the next step in freeing up infrastructure IT staff resources and letting the development, application, or business owners manage what they need and are capable of managing within the IT environment. This can include stopping Windows services, setting permissions on DNS entries for their systems (typically CNAMES), and light database query permissions. If we spend our day doing low-level tasks that can be assigned via permission to the persons responsible for the application, we’re not managing our time well enough.

"

(Via 10 Things.)

10+ basic Microsoft Outlook support issues

10+ basic Microsoft Outlook support issues: "

Outlook offers a number of benefits, but it tends to throw the occasional obstacle in your path. Armed with the right information and a few tricks, you can smooth the way for your Outlook users — and for yourself.

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Whether you support only yourself or an enterprise full of users, you’ll find Outlook challenging but worth it. Most of the time, it’s enough to know where Outlook stores its data. However, as you take advantage of Outlook’s various features, you’ll run into a few peculiar behaviors. Knowing the origins of these behaviors will make your job a lot easier. Here’s a look at some of the common issues that Outlook users are likely to encounter. Note: Specific instructions apply to Windows XP Professional machines in Classic view, using Outlook 2003 on non-Exchange systems.

This information is also available as a PDF download.

#1: Work with your .pst file

Outlook stores each user’s folders, messages, forms, and files in a special file known as a Personal Folder file. You can save, copy, and even move a Personal Folder (.pst) file, although you shouldn’t move it unless you have a specific reason for doing so and know what you’re doing. Use Windows Search to find the file quickly using the search string *.pst. Usually, this file is on the local drive. However, if you’re on Microsoft Exchange Server, you might not have access to it. In that case, you’ll need to talk with your administrator.

Backing up your .pst file occasionally is a good idea. How often depends on you. But if you get a lot of important mail, every day isn’t too often. To back up your Personal Folder file and all its subfolders, simply export it, as follows:

1. Choose Import and Export from the File menu to launch the wizard.


2. Choose Export To A File from the Choose An Action To Perform list and click Next.


3. Select Personal Folder File (.pst) from the Create A File Of Type list and click Next.


4. Choose Personal Folders from the Select The Folder To Export From list.


5. Check the Include Subfolders option and click Next.


6. Specify a folder and filename for the backup file.


7. From Options, specify how to treat duplicate items.


8. Click Finish.

#2: Back up Outlook’s stuff

Outlook’s views — Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Tasks, and E-mail — aren’t always part of the Personal Folders file. You can backup these components separately, as follows:

1. Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 from the previous tip.


2. Choose the Outlook item folder you want to export from the Select The Folder To Export From list and click Next.


3. By entering or browsing, specify a folder and filename for the backup file.


4. From Options, specify how to treat duplicate items.


5. Click Finish.


6. Repeat as necessary for each Outlook folder.


7. If you’re on a corporate server, do the following:


8. From the Tools menu, choose Services and then click the Delivery tab.


9. From Deliver New Mail To The Following Location, choose Remote Mail and identify your Personal Folder file or choose your Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox, if you want to use offline folders.


10. Click OK.


11. Exit and restart Outlook.

#3: Export Outlook folders to another format

Although the right code can help Office applications talk to one another, sometimes it’s quicker to export data. An automated solution is definitely worth the effort if users must frequently repeat the task. Knowing which format to export to is the real trick. You can export Outlook data to another format as follows:

1. Choose Import And Export from the File menu.


2. In the resulting pane, select Export To A File and click Next.


3. From the Create A File of Type list, choose the appropriate file type and click Next. One of the seven types should be adequate for most purposes.


4. Choose the folder you want to export from and click Next.


5. Enter the path and filename for the exported file and click Next. Or click Browse to locate the appropriate folder and then enter just a filename.


6. Click Finish. In this final window, Outlook may give you the opportunity to map fields. Generally, you won’t need to change the wizard’s settings unless you have very specific reasons for doing so.

Outlook exports internal field names. You can change these names in the exported file, but you can’t change them before the export. You can use an export to learn the internal names if you decide to code the solution later. Knowing those internal field names is essential.

#4: Delete folders

Adding folders is so easy that you might add more folders than you actually need. It’s common to create too many and then find you need to cut back a bit. Fortunately, deleting folders is easy:

1. Right-click the folder you want to delete.


2. Choose Delete foldername.

That’s it! Outlook will move the deleted folder to the Deleted Items folder, as a subfolder. If you want to permanently delete the folder, right-click the deleted folder (in the Deleted Items folder) and choose Delete. When Outlook prompts you to permanently delete the folder, click Yes. Otherwise, the data in that folder is still in the Delete Items folder, consuming resources. In addition, if a folder contains sensitive or confidential data, it’s visible to anyone who accesses your computer. If Delete isn’t available with a right-click, call your administrator.

#5: Delete a .pst file from a profile

When a user moves on, you should delete his or her .pst file from the local system, as follows:

1. Close Outlook if it’s open.


2. From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel.


3. Double-click Mail.


4. Click Data Files.


5. Select Personal Folders and click Remove.


6. Click Close and close the Control Panel window.

Outlook needs a personal folder, so after deleting the current .pst file, create a new one by clicking Add. Be sure to set the new file as the default. Delete a user’s .pst file only when you’re certain that no one will need to access its contents.

#7: Prompt for profiles

Outlook can handle more than one profile. An Outlook profile is similar to a Windows user account; each profile contains settings specific to a single user. However, if you define more than one profile, you must tell Outlook to prompt for a profile, as follows:

1. From the Windows Start menu, choose Control Panel.


2. Double-click Mail.


3. Click Show Profiles.


4. Click the Prompt For A Profile To Be Used option and click OK.

Now, when you launch Outlook, it will ask you to choose a profile.

#8: Archive to avoid losing data

Outlook has a critical design flaw: If you don’t archive or delete messages regularly, your file will grow too large for Outlook to handle. Eventually, Outlook will choke. If this happens, you can download a crop tool that will reduce the size of your Personal Folders file. Unfortunately, you’ll lose data because this tool removes some to reduce the size of the file.

Avoiding the problem is the best defense:

• Delete messages you don’t need to keep.


• Archive items regularly.

#9: Keep up with custom toolbars

Outlook stores toolbar information, including any custom toolbars you create, in a file named outcmd.dat. You’ll find this file in the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

It’s a good idea to back up this file after you customize the interface. If something goes wrong, you can reclaim missing toolbars by replacing the current copy of outcmd.dat with the backup. You can also use this file to copy custom toolbars to another instance of Outlook.

Windows hides outcmd.dat by default. To view it so you can copy or replace it, you must enable Show Hidden Files And Folders in Windows Explorer by choosing Folder Options from the Tools menu and then clicking the View tab.

#10: Make contacts appear in the Address Book

When addressing e-mail, you can choose from Contacts items — usually. If contacts don’t appear, right-click the Contacts folder, choose Properties, and then click the Outlook Address Book tab. Make sure the Show This Folder As An Email Address Book is checked. If that option is dimmed, choose E-mail Accounts from the Tools menu and then choose View Or Change Existing Directories Or Address Book and do one of the following:

• If Outlook Address Book isn’t in the list, add it. Then, close Outlook and restart it.


• If Outlook Address Book is listed, delete it, close Outlook, restart, and then add it.

#11: Use Extended Reminders for multiple Task folders

You can have more than one Task folder, but Outlook recognizes reminders and follow-up flags only for the items in the default Task folder. That means if you set a reminder for an item in a non-default Task folder, Outlook will ignore it. If you must have this capability, consider using a third-party product, such as Extended Reminders.

#12: Clear the search history

The Contact Quick Find feature stores each search. If an item is already in the list, you can select it quickly for a repeat search. But the list can rapidly grow too large to be helpful. Outlook stores search items in the Registry. To clear the list, delete the following Registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\version\Outlook\QuickFindMRU

Note: Editing the Registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes.

#13: Read messages archived to CD

You can back up a Personal Folders file to CD, but the file is Read Only by default. To view the file’s contents, you must restore it to your hard drive first. Unfortunately, if the Read Only property is still set to True, you won’t be able to access items in the file. You can easily reset this property by right-clicking the file and selecting Properties. Uncheck the Read Only option and click OK. After resetting the property, you should be able to access the file.

"

(Via 10 Things.)

Top 10 qualities of a great IT shop

Top 10 qualities of a great IT shop: "4. There is a high-visibility system security team. Since security is one of the most vulnerable areas of IT, it must be well managed."

(Via InfoWorld RSS Feed.)

Tax-Loss Harvesting: How to Use the Market Downturn to Save on Taxes This Year

Tax-Loss Harvesting: How to Use the Market Downturn to Save on Taxes This Year: "

J.D. is on vacation. This is a guest post from Linden Cornett. Linden is a Portland-area professional with an interest in finance.

The stock market is down this year, and many people have asked me if I’ve made any changes to my investments as a result. My general strategy is to buy-hold-rebalance my stock and bond investments, so I’ve mainly used this downturn as an opportunity to buy stocks at bargain prices.

There is one tax strategy that I’d recommend to anyone who has losses in a taxable account. I’ve already done this with a few of my investments, and maybe you should too. The strategy is known as ‘tax-loss harvesting’, and here’s how it works.

Tax-loss harvesting

Suppose you have an investment with a cost basis of $10,000, and its current value is $5000 (certainly possible given the stock market’s performance this year). Let’s assume that in two years from now, the value of your investment would return to $10,000. If you do nothing, you’ll have a $10K investment in 2010 and owe no taxes if you were to choose to sell it at that time.

If, instead, you sell your investment this month, wait 31 days, and then buy it back, you’ll be able to realize the $5000 loss on your 2008 tax return.

During those 31 days, you might choose to invest in a money market fund or some similar investment so that you don’t miss out on a possible upswing in the market during that 31-day period — more on that later. Assuming no significant market movements during the 31 days, you’ll still have a $5000 investment. In this case, what have you gained?

Offsetting capital gains

First, the $5000 loss on this year’s tax return can be used to offset any other capital gains you might have realized this year. If you don’t have any capital gains this year, then you can use the first $3000 worth of losses to avoid paying taxes on current-year income. Any amount over $3000 can be carried forward as capital losses towards your tax returns in future years. The losses can be carried forward indefinitely and used to offset $3k of income each year or to offset future capital gains.

But what about your investment, which used to have a cost basis of $10,000 and now has a cost basis of $5000? When you sell this investment at some point in the future, won’t it be a wash since you’ll have to pay taxes on an extra $5000 of investment gains? Although future tax rates are an unknown, we are making two assumptions here:

• The first is that capital gains tax rates will continue to be lower than income tax rates.


• The second is that we’d prefer to defer paying taxes (after all, isn’t this why we invest in 401(k) plans?).

Current capital gains tax rates are 0% for those people in the 10% and 15% income tax brackets. For people in the 25% and higher income tax brackets, capital gains are taxed at 15%.

If a person in the 25% tax bracket takes a capital loss of $5K this year, she can reduce this year’s taxable income by $3000 and next year’s taxable income by $2000. Disregarding state taxes for a moment, she would save $750 this year and $500 next year on federal taxes, for a total savings of $1250.

If she decides to sell her investment with a long-term gain of $5000 in 2010, she will pay $750 in capital gains taxes, for a net savings of $500. If she waits until retirement to sell the investment, which may be decades away, the current savings of $1250 may be compounded over a long period of time.

The waiting game

What should you do with your investments during the 31-day period before you can buy them back? One option is to simply let your cash sit in a money market fund. It will earn a guaranteed interest rate and will be safe from losses. The downside to this choice is that you may miss out on an upswing in the market. With the current levels of volatility in the market, bad timing could mean you’ll miss a significant rally.

Another option is to temporarily invest your money in a similar investment. For example, if your money is currently in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX), you could swap over to the Vanguard 500 Index (VFINX) for 31 days, and then swap back. This way, you’ll still earn the same approximate market return that you would have earned had you done nothing.

The downside to this choice is that you may lose money during the 31-day period. Also, if the market does go up, you’ll have a short-term gain, and you’ll have to pay taxes on that gain.

Each investor needs to decide for herself which option makes sense for her particular situation and temperament. You may also choose to use this opportunity to change your portfolio if your current investments are not the ones you’d like to hold for the long term.

Playing by the rules

To make sure that your tax-loss harvesting meets IRS requirements, you must refrain from buying any shares of your investment, or a ‘substantially identical security’, for the 30 days before and the 30 days after selling it at a loss. This is known as the ‘wash-sale rule’, and it is the reason for waiting 31 days after selling your investment before buying it back. Make sure that you have not purchased any shares of the investment during the 30 days prior to selling as well.

A ‘substantially identical security’ is a little bit of a grey area. It is certainly not allowed to sell shares of a particular stock and then buy back the same stock within the wash-sale time period. Selling shares of one S&P 500 fund and buying a different S&P 500 fund for 31 days is unlikely to cause an issue, but you’re probably better off swapping into funds with somewhat different holdings.

Not for everyone

For people in higher tax brackets, or with larger losses, the benefit increases, although it may take many years to whittle away at the carried-forward loss at a rate of $3000 per year.

For some people, this strategy may not make sense.

• For example, if you only have small losses, it is probably not worth the effort since this strategy does require a bit of work. It’s probably only worth it if the losses are a significant dollar amount to you (each person has a different definition of ‘significant’).


• Also, if you would have to pay fees and/or commissions in order to buy and sell, it may not be worth making any changes (this is yet another reason to invest in no-load mutual funds).


• Finally, if you are in a low tax bracket now, but expect to be in a higher tax bracket in retirement, the benefit decreases or vanishes.

This has been a brutal year for stock and bond investors. Many of my friends and family have called me in a panic asking if now is the time to abandon the stock market. My advice to stick with their investment plan is not always what they’d like to hear, so it is helpful to be able to recommend tax-loss harvesting as a concrete way to benefit from capital losses.

In addition, there is a psychological benefit to doing something, and this is a more beneficial tactic than changing your investment plan as an emotional reaction to a disappointing year.

Photo by Linden Baum.

---
Related Articles at Get Rich Slowly:

• Ben Stein: Buy Low, Sell High
• Spare Change #4
• Priciest Places to Smoke and Drive
• The 9 Strangest Tax Write-Offs
• How to Invest in a Bad Economy

"

(Via Clippings.)

Managing Telecommuting Teams

Computerworld recently had a fairly common-sense article on managing remote workers, might be helpful for some people....

10 essential e-mail security measures

10 essential e-mail security measures: "

E-mail security is about a lot more than just using a good password on your POP or IMAP server. Perhaps the most important part of e-mail security is ensuring you don’t shoot yourself in the foot. These best practices will help you avoid any mistakes.

---

There’s a lot of information out there about securing your e-mail. Much of it is advanced and doesn’t apply to the typical end user. Configuring spam filters such as SpamAssassin, setting up encrypted authentication on mail servers, and e-mail gateway virus scanner management are not basic end-user tasks.

When one can find end-user e-mail security tips, they’re usually specific to a single mail client or mail user agent, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, or Mutt. This sort of information is of critical importance to many users of these applications, but there are few sources of more general security information for e-mail users that aren’t specific to a given client application.

The following is a list of some important security tips that apply to all e-mail users - not just users of a specific application. The first five are listed in the order one should employ them, from the first priority to the last. This priority is affected not only by how important a given tip is, but also by how easy it is to employ. The easier something is to do, the more likely one is to actually do it and move on to the next tip. The last five pointers are best practices that will help prevent users from making careless mistakes.

Note: This article is based on the IT Security blog posts Basic e-mail security tips and More e-mail security tips by Chad Perrin. It’s also available as a PDF download.

#1: Never allow an e-mail client to fully render HTML or XHTML e-mails without careful thought.

At the absolute most, if you have a mail client such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird that can render HTML e-mails, you should configure it to render only simplified HTML rather than rich HTML - or ‘Original HTML,’ as some clients label the option. Even better is to configure it to render only plain text. When rendering HTML, you run the risk of identifying yourself as a valid recipient of spam or getting successfully phished by some malicious security cracker or identity thief. My personal preference is, in fact, to use a mail user agent that is normally incapable of rendering HTML e-mail at all, showing everything as plain text instead.

#2: If the privacy of your data is important to you, use a local POP3 or IMAP client to retrieve e-mail.

This means avoiding the use of Web-based e-mail services, such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail for e-mail you want to keep private for any reason. Even if your Webmail service provider’s policies seem sufficiently privacy-oriented to you, that doesn’t mean that employees won’t occasionally break the rules. Some providers are accused of selling e-mail addresses to spamming ‘partners.’ Even supposedly security-oriented Webmail services, such as Hushmail, can often be less than diligent in providing security to their users’ e-mail.

#3: Ensure that your e-mail authentication process is encrypted, even if the e-mail itself is not.

The reason for this is simple: You do not want some malicious security cracker listening in on your authentication session with the mail server. Someone who does this can then send e-mails as you, receive your e-mail, and generally cause all kinds of problems for you (including spammers). Check with your ISP’s policies to determine whether authentication is encrypted and even how it is encrypted (so you might be able to determine how trivial it is to crack the encryption scheme used).

#4: Digitally sign your e-mails.

As long as you observe good security practices with e-mail in general, it is highly unlikely that anyone else will ever have the opportunity to usurp your identity for purposes of e-mail-but it is still a possibility. But if you use an encryption tool, such as PGP or GnuPG, to digitally sign your e-mails, recipients who have your public key will be able to determine that nobody could have sent the e-mail in question without having access to your private key-and you should definitely have a private key that is well protected.

#5: Avoid unsecured networks.

If, for some reason, you absolutely positively must access an e-mail account that does not authorize over an encrypted connection, never access that account from a public or otherwise unsecured network. Ever. Under any circumstances.

Be aware of both your virtual and physical surroundings when communicating via e-mail. Be careful. Trust no one that you do not absolutely have to trust, and recognize the dangers and potential consequences of that trust.

Your e-mail security does not just affect you; it affects others, as well, if your e-mail account is compromised. Even if the e-mail account itself is not compromised, your computer may be if you do not take reasonable care with how you deal with e-mails - and that, in turn, can lead to affecting both you and others adversely as well.

#6: Turn off automated addressing features.

As communication software accumulates more and more automated convenience features, we’ll see more and more cases of accidentally selecting the wrong recipients. A prime example is Microsoft Outlook’s ‘dreaded auto-fill feature,’ where it is all too easy to accidentally select a recipient adjacent to your intended recipient in the drop-down list. This can be particularly problematic when discussing private matters such as business secrets.

#7: Use BCC when sending to multiple recipients.

It’s a bad idea, from a security perspective, to share e-mail addresses with people who have no need for them. It is also rude to share someone’s e-mail address with strangers without permission. Every time you send out an e-mail to multiple recipients with all the recipients’ names in the To: or CC: fields, you’re sharing all those e-mail addresses with all the recipients. E-mail addresses that are not explicitly meant to be shared with the entire world should, in e-mails addressed to multiple recipients, be specified in the BCC: field - because each person will then be able to see that he or she is a recipient, but will not be able to see the e-mail addresses of anyone else in the BCC: field.

#8: Save e-mails only in a safe place.

No amount of encryption for sent e-mails will protect your privacy effectively if, after receiving and decrypting an e-mail, you store it in plain text on a machine to which other people have access. Sarah Palin found out the hard way that Webmail providers don’t do as good a job of ensuring stored e-mail privacy as we might like. Many users’ personal computers are not exactly set up with security in mind, either, as in the case of someone whose Windows home directory is set up as a CIFS share with a weak password.

#9: Only use private accounts for private e-mails.

Any e-mail you share with the world is likely to get targeted by spammers - both for purposes of sending mail to it and spoofing that e-mail address in the From: field of the e-mail headers. The more spammers and phishers who spoof your e-mail address that way, the more likely your e-mail address is to end up on spam blocker blacklists used by ISPs and lazy mail server sysadmins — and the more likely you are to have problems with your e-mails not getting to their intended recipients.

#10: Double-check the recipient, every time - especially on mailing lists.

Accidentally replying directly to someone who sent an e-mail to a mailing list, when you meant to reply to the list, isn’t a huge security issue. It can be kind of inconvenient, though, especially when you might never notice your e-mail didn’t actually get to the mailing list. The converse, however, can be a real problem: if you accidentally send something to the list that was intended strictly for a specific individual, you may end up publicly saying something embarrassing or, worse, accidentally divulging secrets to hundreds of people you don’t even know.

"

(Via 10 Things.)

Working with Active Directory Snapshots in Windows Server 2008

Working with Active Directory Snapshots in Windows Server 2008: "Active Directory snapshots in Windows Server 2008 allow an administrator to
either manually, or programmatically, create snapshots of the Active Directory
database at a given time. With Active Directory snapshots, you can view the data
inside such a snapshot on a domain controller without the need to start the
server in Directory Services Restore Mode. These snapshots can be stored on the
local hard disk of the Domain Controller (DC), or moved to an offline type of
storage. In this article, MVP Daniel Petri will walk you through the steps taken
in order to create, mount, connect to and delete AD snapshots.

Get 6+ hours of Windows Server 2008 Training for Free! Check out this Download!

Train Signal is offering Windows Server 2008 Training. You can learn all of the new benefits and features of Windows Server 2008 by watching this downloadable file - I highly recommend it! Here are some of the topics covered: IIS 7 Server Core WDS RODC Server 2008 Certification It's better than a book, and instructor, Ben 'Coach' Culbertson, makes learning this material easy! Click here to read more and download free Windows Server 2008 Training! Daniel Petri, Petri IT Knowledge Base

"

(Via Clippings.)

Exporting Information from Active Directory Snapshots in Windows Server 2008

Exporting Information from Active Directory Snapshots in Windows Server 2008: "Active Directory snapshots in Windows Server 2008 allow an administrator to
either manually, or programmatically, create snapshots of the Active Directory
database at a given time. With snapshots, you can view the data inside such a
snapshot and use it to restore or inspect data. After learning how to create,
mount and expose Active Directory snapshots in Daniel Petri's previous articles,
in this new article Daniel will walk you through the process of working with and
exporting information from these snapshots.

Get 6+ hours of Windows Server 2008 Training for Free! Check out this Download!

Train Signal is offering Windows Server 2008 Training. You can learn all of the new benefits and features of Windows Server 2008 by watching this downloadable file - I highly recommend it! Here are some of the topics covered: IIS 7 Server Core WDS RODC Server 2008 Certification It's better than a book, and instructor, Ben 'Coach' Culbertson, makes learning this material easy! Click here to read more and download free Windows Server 2008 Training! Daniel Petri, Petri IT Knowledge Base

"

(Via Clippings.)

Pogue's Photography Tips and Tricks

I knew about the others but the lampshade trick is awesome, I never thought of that!

Pogue's Photography Tips and Tricks: "David Pogue's list of 'The Best Photography Tricks of All Time.'"

(Via Clippings.)

What Gmail does better than its competitors

What Gmail does better than its competitors: "Does Gmail perform better than its competitors on a number of levels? Don Reisinger thinks so."

(Via Cnet.)

The 10 most influential leaders in business technology in 2008

The 10 most influential leaders in business technology in 2008: "

Technology continues to be a powerful force for transforming business, when used wisely and correctly. Here is a list of the top 10 visionaries and executives who made the biggest impact on the business technology world in 2008.

——————————————————————————————————————-

10. Bill Gates, Microsoft

At the end of June, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stepped down from his full-time job at the world’s largest software company (he remains chairman and still spends about 20% of his working hours on Microsoft stuff). True to his word, Gates has stepped back from the spotlight. However, he still casts a huge shadow over the business technology world, in part because a number of his visions have not come to fruition yet - most notably his ideas for next generation computer interfaces - and partly because Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was so erratic in 2008 (ah hem, Yahoo debacle) and has yet to articulate a clear vision for how Microsoft will innovate business software in the years ahead.

9. Mark Templeton, Citrix

Citrix was supposed to have been eliminated years ago when Microsoft started bundling Terminal Services into Windows Server. However, it never happened. Under the leadership of President and CEO Mark Templeton, Citrix has done two things to remain relevant: 1.) expand its product lines and 2.) re-market its itself to fit the changing times. Citrix has chosen its acquisitions wisely, with wins such as Xen virtualization software and GoToMeeting and GoToMyPC for remote workers. Meanwhile, Templeton, a former marketing executive, has re-fashioned the company by successfully hitching its wagon to virtualization. For example, terminal services is now application virtualization for Citrix. It also doesn’t hurt that Citrix’s software also goes a step beyond the version of Terminal Services that you get in Windows, and Citrix has also aggressively partnered with Microsoft.

8. Steve Jobs, Apple

Apple and its CEO Steve Jobs have had a far larger impact on consumer computing than business systems over the past several years, but Apple made one move in 2008 that was significant enough to land Jobs on this list on its merits alone. In a software update in mid-2008, Jobs and Apple took their highly successful iPhone and connected it with Exchange ActiveSync, making it capable of enterprise-class e-mail, contacts, and calendaring. This also made the iPhone a much stronger competitor to BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and Symbian. However, the iPhone’s meteoric ascent hasn’t hurt the big smartphone vendors - at least not yet. It has actually brought more awareness to smartphones (making it a required tool for knowledge workers) and helped expand the overall smartphone market. These aren’t just tools for executives, salespeople, financial nerds, and bureaucrats anymore.

7. Safra Catz, Oracle

When you have a company that makes almost 50% of its revenue from existing software and support contracts, then it’s critical to have a leader who can drive operational efficiency. For enterprise software giant Oracle, that leader is Safra Catz, its President and former CFO. While CEO Larry Ellison remains the highly-colorful figurehead of the company, Catz is the one in charge of integrating its steady stream of acquisitions - 10 in 2008 - and handling the company’s operational strategy. With Microsoft nipping at its heals from the SMB side and SAP and IBM trying to steal away enterprise accounts, Oracle’s empire should be shrinking, but it’s not. It has put together the most diverse set of enterprise software products and it has assimilated them very well under Catz’s leadership. She is one of only two non-CEOs on this list, but the successes of Oracle’s acquisitions make her a worthy addition.

6. Eric Schmidt, Google

While Google ultimately aims for a broader consumer focus of building great tools to broaden the power of the Internet, the company is quietly making inroads with its business technology products. Whether it’s the expansion of Gmail functionality to become a true competitor to Microsoft Outlook, large organizations such as the Washington D.C. municipality migrating from Microsoft Office to Google Apps, the continued expansion of the Google enterprise search appliances, or the potential for Android smartphones to become powerful business devices, you can see Google methodically moving into the enterprise arena. And don’t forget that Google Chairman/CEO Eric Schmidt previously worked for two enterprise vendors, Sun Microsystems and Novell.

5. Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com

There’s no better success story for cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) in the business world than Salesforce.com. The Web-based CRM tool continued its meteoric growth in 2008 and its Chairman/CEO Marc Benioff continued to wave the flag for SaaS as the next great evolution in the business technology world. If he has his way, Benioff will take Salesforce.com beyond CRM and build the world’s first great cloud computing platform for businesses. Don’t count him out.

4. Anne Mulcahy, Xerox

During the past five years, Anne Mulcahy - as Xerox CEO and Chairman - has turned around the fortunes of the company that was once synonymous with the photocopier. Mulcahy instituted strict financial discipline including major cost costs, while also ramping up Xerox’s services business, pushing innovation with expanded  research and development efforts, and growing its footprint in emerging markets. Ironically, Xerox consultants now show companies how to save paper and reduce the number of printers - often by replacing a bunch of HP printers with one big machine from Xerox.

3. Craig Barrett, Intel

With Bill Gates fading into the sunset, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett has emerged as one of the IT industry’s chief ambassadors. He traveled to over 30 countries in 2008, met with various heads of state, and served as the chair of a United Nations task force on technology in the developing world. ‘Technology is a tool to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges related to health care, education, economic development and the environment,’ said Barrett. This broader vision of the role of technology in society is fueling Intel’s strategy as the company continues to drive down the cost of computers with chips that are smaller, less expensive, and cost less to operate.

2. John Chambers, Cisco

Cisco continues to completely dominate the enterprise networking market. Now, it’s trying to do the same in the small and medium business market. Its telepresence systems are also poised for a big breakthrough as the price of the product drops and businesses cut their travel budgets in these lean economic times. Now, it’s also rumored that Cisco will enter the blade server market. Chambers is a high-energy visionary with lots of discipline, and he has Cisco hitting on all cylinders.

1. Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard

Last year, I left Mark Hurd off the list and even remarked that Carly Fiorina deserved a lot of the credit for Hewlett-Packard’s resurgence because its roots are based in the HP-Compaq merger, which Fiorina had the guts to do. But, it becomes clearer every year that Hurd is making the right calls and motivating the various HP divisions to execute. HP is back on top in the PC market (having overtaken Dell), it is tied for the lead in servers with IBM, and it is even making strong moves in the networking market with its ProCurve gear. Plus, it bought EDS in 2008 to expand its footprint in IT services. All of the while, it has allowed its incumbent printer business to quietly take a back seat. That’s why HP is doing so well, even in the face of economic headwinds, and that’s why Hurd deserves the top spot on this list.

See:  The 10 most influential leaders in business technology in 2007

"

(Via Tech Sanity Check.)