By Lamont Wood

BLOGS

IDC eXchange
blogs.idc.com/ie/

On this public blog run by high-tech market researcher IDC, the firm's industry analysts comment on technology research and news, much of it of interest to CIOs. Postings include audio and video files from conferences and interviews, excerpts from material on IDC's main site (where access is limited to subscribers) and more. Visitors can sort the blogs by category or month, and there is also a list of "greatest hits"— items with the highest readership. Topics include cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS) and Google. Readers may post comments and frequently do.

Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms
mikeschaffner.typepad.com/

This personal blog features the opinions of Mike Schaffner, IT Director of the Valves And Measurement Group of Cameron International in Houston, Texas. Schaffner's thoughtful postings cover technology issues of interest to CIOs—for example, widgets and Web 2.0 — as well as career issues, such as interpersonal relationships and job descriptions. He also provides bellwether opinions on IT-related topics. For instance, in a recent post, Schaffner questioned the policing of corporate IT user policies: "Someone intent on using our systems for illegal purposes isn't going to be intimidated by those warnings."

EVENTS

World of IT Financial Management Conferences
Atlanta, Ga.
March 30 - April 3, 2009
itfma.com/index.cfm

This event, sponsored by the IT Financial Management Association, is actually a series of concurrent conferences. Topics covered will include IT financial management for controllers and CFOs, IT financial planning and budgeting, IT asset management, government IT financial management, and IT performance and benchmarking. The conference will be held in the Georgian Terrace Hotel, a historic building dating back to 1911.