The inaugural issue of BI Trends & Strategies offers sound advice to help you in ensuring your organization is on track to keep up with the rapidly changing landscape of BI and analytics. In this issue, readers will learn about a big data definition and the impact it will have on BI and data warehousing, agile development methodology and more. 

This summary of findings from Forrester Research will help shed light on how to evaluate, select and work with technology consultants on IT consolidation projects in order to pick just the right consulting resource for your particular application and challenge. 

This report from Knowledge Peers and Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC), reveals what leaders of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs) think of IT – its strategic value, its potential, and the changing way in which it is being used in their organisations. 

With a potential economic crisis looming in the Eurozone, Gartner offers a checklist of questions that CIOs and CEOs should ask each other. 

This report from Deloitte argues businesses are again investing in IT to provide the differentiation and innovation critical from their competitors despite the downturn. 

There is no question that the successful implementation of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) relies on a careful and holistic approach to business planning. One of the most important tools in the evaluation, purchase, and ongoing use of SOA is this body of best practices that vendors, consultants, and customers have compiled. 

Discover the impact desktop virtualization and virtual desktop infrastructure have on your network. 

Master data management (MDM) tools are on the rise as more companies look toward ways to solve all their data needs through one system. This expert e-guide from our editorial team features two articles with exceptional insight on what vendors and trends are prevailing in the current MDM market. 

SAP recently released two new mobile apps aimed at increasing the scope of HR-related information that employees, executives, and managers can access outside the workplace. Read this expert e-guide to learn how to maximize the value of your HR initiatives by leveraging SAP’s new mobile technologies. 

This week's Computer Weekly examines how the Football Association's IT director is using technology to help improve the prospects for the England national team. Our Buyer's Guide to government IT looks at the future of open source in the public sector and we report from Infosec 2012 on the rising number of cyber attacks. Read the issue now. 

In this expert briefing, veteran IT industry consultant Chris Evans drills into the specific challenges that storage managers face when implementing virtual desktop infrastructures, and provides practical tips to help guarantee a VDI project that meets expectations and delivers on its projected ROI. 

Between 25% and 50% of most companies’ revenue goes toward purchasing goods and services, so the ability to keep these costs down is paramount. Applying strategic sourcing methodologies to pinpoint spend categories and select qualified suppliers allows organizations to reduce expenses and positively impact the bottom line.