<p>This e-guide features editorial articles with insight from IT industry consultants and technology professionals on the importance of data quality as well as advice for ensuring a successful program.</p> 

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. 

This chapter from the SearchDataBackup.com Backup best practices guide explores the key backup technologies in today’s storage environment. This article identifies specific points of interest for disk backup. Download this chapter to learn all about disk storage as well as specific considerations of enterprise-class disk arrays to keep in mind. 

This chapter discusses the process of evaluating and purchasing backup products. Also discussed are the issues to be aware of during this process, such as recovery deadlines, scalability, security, and more. 

This article shows how an application grid built on Oracle Fusion Middleware can not only prevent unplanned outages, but it can improve the overall performance of mission critical business applications. 

In this article, Kaplan, of Harvard Business School, and Norton, founder and director of the Palladium Group, explain how to effectively manage both strategy and operations by linking them tightly in a closed-loop management system, which comprises five stages. 

This edition of BI Trends & Strategies features a lead article by SearchCIO.com's Linda Tucci, who offers a helping hand in the quest to dismantle the dreaded data silo. The second piece outlines mobile BI, including a reference to Apple's iPad, and the final article delves into the world of performance management. 

Deduplication adoption is growing at a pace very similar to that of disk-based backup solutions: ESG research shows that more and more companies are evaluating deduplication, with 38% of 2010 respondents using a data deduplication solution compared to only 11% in 2008. Read this comprehensive white paper to learn more. 

With the amount of data center consolidation occurring today, moving to server virtualization has happened very quickly. This whitepaper discuss SPB and TRILL, two emerging technologies that wish to virtualize networks without adding complexity. 

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

Philip Dawson, Gartner VP offers best practice advice for organisations looking to virtualise their IT infrastructure. 

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.