What are the top challenges facing CEOs in 2005? Well, 30 percent of them directly involve IT. At least according to the December issue of Chief Executive magazine, whose top ten CEO challenges include beating the cyber threat, adopting open source technology, and rethinking outsourcing. Each challenge is accompanied by a story. The tagline for the article Beating the Cyber Threat says, “CEOs must invest in a new generation of IT.” Hurray! But you can pretty much stop reading there, because the article just goes on to list some down-the-road needs for enhanced security (like new infrastructure), and recommends consortia of academics, industry experts and policy makers to handle the R&D and rule-making. The author explains the current patchy nature of security and calls for a more holistic approach. He says, “Security is often considered just ’overhead,’ but if one were able to quantify the economic impact and the ROI for information technology, there would be a lot more justification for building in security in products, services and systems from the very beginning, rather than adding them in later.” (For more on the need to measure the value of security, see sister publication CSO magazine’s articles Value Proposition and How Do You Communicate the Value of Security?.) The CEO of Novell, Jack Messman, wrote Adopting Open-Source Software. Make of that what you will, because Novell has introduced some open source based services, but he says 2005 will be the year open source comes into its own, because “viable open-source software based on Linux is now becoming widely available to corporate users, both at the server and the desktop level. Choice is returning to information technology. CEOs need to understand this so they can free their chief information officers from Microsoft’s grip.” (See our Analyst Report Is Open Source Appropriate for Your IT Strategy?) As for Rethinking Outsourcing, it’s not a matter of yes or no, but coming up with new strategies. “Managed competition” is seen as the wave of the future. It sounds rather like the “bestshoring” that Gunjan Bagla writes about in CIO’s current Weigh In column. That is, the best practice is to “match the right type of work to the right provider, select providers that have the strongest track record for execution and focus on outputs versus unit cost inputs,” as Sapient co-CEO Jerry A. Greenberg puts it in Chief Executive. By the way, the non-IT things on the list include securing America and the world, improving third world health, keeping stability in Korea. . . and other things that make adopting open source software look like a much more do-able item on a to-do list. Related content brandpost Sponsored by Rocket Software Why data virtualization is critical for business success Data is your most valuable resource—but only if you can access it fast enough to address present challenges. Data virtualization is the key. By Milan Shetti, CEO of Rocket Software Nov 28, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Rocket Software The hybrid approach: Get the best of both mainframe and cloud Cloud computing and modernization often go hand in hand, but that doesn’t mean the mainframe should be left behind. A hybrid approach offers the most value, enabling businesses to get the best of both worlds. By Milan Shetti, CEO Rocket Software Nov 28, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Rimini Street Dear Oracle Cloud…I need my own space Access results from a recent Rimini Street survey about why enterprises are rethinking their Oracle relationship and cloud strategy. By Tanya O'Hara Nov 28, 2023 5 mins Cloud Computing brandpost Sponsored by Rimini Street How to evolve IT systems into innovation engines Today’s IT leaders are more than eager to modernize with best-fit cloud solutions that drive innovation and rapid business impact, but they need to do so with ROI-based solutions. By Tanya O'Hara Nov 28, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe