Business allignment tops the list of IT priorities again, while virtualization continues to transform enteprise computing as we know it

Latest SIM Study Cites Business Alignment as Top IT Priority
After briefly being unseated by IT talent recruitment, the perennial need to align IT projects with business goals has returned as the top priority of CIOs surveyed by the Society of Information Management. You could argue that it's sad that this issue has been the top IT priority for a decade or more. Or you could just acknowledge that this is what IT is suppose to be all about. In either case, the need to align IT with business is giving rise to increased interest in business intelligence applications as a service and pushing companies such as Netezza to expand their wares via acqusitions.

Application Virtualization Set to Go Mainstream in the Enterprise
With the arrival of XenApp 5, Citrix is marrying the best qualities of application virtualization with terminal services to create a new platform for developing enteprise-class applications.
XenApp 5

Virtualization Transforms Disaster Recovery
A new survey finds that IT organizations have embraced server virtualization as a key enabling technology that helps reduce the costs associated with disaster recovery. Of course, testing disaster recovery plans remains a major challenge and the overall difficulty associated with disaster recovery is prompting both IBM and Amazon to increase their investments in this space.

IBM Draws Line in the Silicon between Power Systems and Intel Architectures
The lead engineers in IBM's Power Systems group say its now clear that Intel architectures have begun to top out in terms of performance and scalability in comparison to IBM's Power systems architecture. Elsewhere, IBM is making some significant breakthroughs in the area of nanotechnology.

IBM Sees Marked Increase in Software Leasing
As credit continues to be tight in a soft economy, IBM says that more customers are increasingly turning to leasing as the favored financial instruments for funding software projects.

Brazil Arrest Major Botnet Figure
International law enforcement organizations appear to be getting better at tracking down digital crime figures as the groups involved in this activity are getting more organized. Meanwhile, the victims of digital crime are starting to combine their efforts to fight digital fraud. Of course, when used laptops with credit card numbers are showing up on auction sites, it's kind of hard to take a bite out of digital crime.

Mozilla Launches Web Service Tool for Mashups
An experimental service from Mozilla looks to put the power of mashups directly in the hands of end users. Mozilla also has another experimental tool that promises to help centralize all those online conversations taking place across various social networking tools.

Taking a Look behind the Technology Curtain at the Democratic National Convention
A massive undertaking involving a diverse mix of vendors has descended on Denver to support tens of thousands of temporary end users.