Expert Advice

With every passing week, reports on box-office receipts come with the same anxiety as industry watchers, film companies, content owners and theater managers assess if the current year will meet or exceed the previous one. Successes like "The Hunger Games" are tempered by disappointments like "John C...

If you're in IT and your job involves securing your organizations' infrastructure, you've probably spent a good deal of time thinking through control selection -- in other words, picking the controls that most directly help you accomplish the goal of securing your environment. And you've probably a...

If a customer walked into one of your brick-and-mortar stores -- assuming, for this exercise, that you have brick-and-mortar stores -- and asked if you had any Sleepytime Pajamas, how would you want your sales associate to respond? Whether you only carried Sweet Dreams Pajamas, you'd just sold out o...

On today's information technology landscape, one thing is glaringly obvious: Security concerns associated with employees bringing personal devices onto the corporate network -- both internal and external -- are keeping IT managers up at night. The "consumerization" of IT is having an enormous impact...

There is no debating that integrations with small business platforms are a great way for app developers to gain increased exposure and, ultimately, additional sales for their tool or service. Many established software providers in the space are opening their doors through APIs to make it easier for...

Social media is a powerful tool that nonprofit organizations can use to quickly, cheaply and personally engage with funders, volunteers and clients. But while the benefits of using social media are vast, challenges and legal risks exist. Here are some tips and traps to keep in mind and discuss with...

Platform as a Service solutions for the cloud are continuing to pop up all over in the world of software due to their simplicity, efficiency and strong developer orientation. Several different PaaS platforms are being built for specific technology stacks. At the application level, most PaaS solution...

In a past life, I was a bosun's mate in the U.S. Navy. A bosun's mate's job is best described as "sailor stuff" -- running small boats, tying up and casting off in port, steering the ship, maintaining things, and lots and lots of painting. Bosun's mates also stood lookout watches, monitoring the env...

The trend toward an "always on, always connected" lifestyle driven by the use of social networks and mobile technology has, if nothing else, groomed consumers to become demanding in their expectations of the online experience. Unfortunately, the e-commerce experience has changed little since early d...

When AOL made a $1 billion deal to sell patents to Microsoft last April, its stock jumped up about 43 percent on the news. After all, AOL could use a $1 billion shot in the arm. Who couldn't? But what is behind this string of sales of patents? Why are patents so important to large tech firms like Mi...