This week’s Computer Weekly examines research that suggests CEOs want to invest in IT more than ever, but still see CIOs as technical experts and not business people. We review SQL Server 2012 and ask if Microsoft's database software is catching its competitors as well as concluding our Buyer's Guide to data security. 

<p>Businesses need to keep a close eye on the evolution of cloud based services to avoid wasting money and missing out on business opportunities.</p> <p><strong> </strong></p> 

Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are among the biggest challenges for enterprises and their IT organisations to navigate. Conventional leadership and management techniques often are not enough. 

Gartner analysts, William Clark, David W Cearley and Avivah Litan, explain how business can exploit context-aware computing and social media. 

Insurance organizations are turning to advanced case management solutions to overcome challenges from manual processes and legacy systems no longer equipped to handle today's influx of info. This paper outlines how one advanced case management option can facilitate better collaboration and analytics, both of which can help detect fraud quicker. 

This tip e-guide from SearchCRM.com features insight from Gartner's 2011 Magic Quadrant for social customer relationship management (CRM). Read this now to learn what challenges are cropping up in CRM, how social media is affecting CRM strategies and what the future of social CRM looks like. 

Dell and VMware have teamed up to integrate the infrastructure needed to implement private cloud computing. Together they have collaboratively developed a broad array of capabilities that administrators can utilize to protect data, streamline management and control costs. Check out this brief white paper to learn more. 

Learn how Gartner's criteria for next generation IPS helps organizations achieve effective threat prevention despite changes in network communications, new applications, and changes in the threat landscape. Featuring Greg Young, research vice president at Gartner. 

Gartner research director, Valdis Filks, offers tips to help businesses get to grips with escalating storage costs. 

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

This thought-provoking research report from Gartner is based on thousands of end user interviews and offers a roadmap toward rethinking data protection in ways that maximize value and meet business-critical needs. 

In this paper, learn why centralized policy management, automated order processing and asset management, and end-user self-service are key ingredients for any organization trying to control the proliferation of wireless mobile devices and spiraling costs.