CIO50 2008
The silicon.com CIO50 2008 profiles the most influential and innovative tech chiefs in the UK across all industries and organisation size, from the biggest FTSE100 companies to high growth dot-com start ups and the public sector.

Tech Hotspots 2008
What are the planet's true technology powerhouses, where the innovation is coming from for today and tomorrow? silicon.com has assembled a panel of international experts to weigh up the key candidates and pick the world's top 20 Tech Hotspots...

CIO Agenda 2008
Find out what's hot and what's not in the fourth annual silicon.com CIO Agenda survey of the key spending priorities and challenges for CIOs in the year ahead. The exclusive silicon.com CIO Agenda 2008 survey looks at the CIO's tech shopping list for the year, examines whether IT budgets are rising or falling and reveals what the pain points are for tech chiefs this year.

Data Lockdown
Organisations everywhere are struggling to keep a tight rein on their confidential information. Whether breaches are occurring through staff emailing company accounts to their home address or selling surplus IT stock containing classified information, it is essential to track what data is leaving the business. This special report examines the main threats to company data, whether malicious or careless, and asks how firms can prevent information falling into the wrong hands. Tools such as data leakage prevention and an enforceable security policy are essential to keep confidential data secure.

Lean and Green
Running an organisation's IT efficiently should lead to a smaller carbon footprint for the whole business - even though this may not be a goal in itself for many CIOs. This special report focuses on the pressures IT directors face in trying to run an efficient function, examining issues ranging from the conflicting demands of compliance and energy savings, to maximising the use of servers and infrastructure. We look at the key topics and the steps organisations can take to ensure their IT is as efficient in business terms - and consequently in ecological terms - as possible.

Digital Defences
Organisations rely on the internet for key applications and highly sensitive communications. But the internet also represents an area of continued vulnerability for many businesses. Where are the weak spots, what are the latest threats and what security measures can be brought to bear against them? We look at the issues as well as the steps organisations can take to ensure systems and infrastructure are robust and secure.

Agenda Setters 2007
Who's been driving and shaping the tech industry in 2007? Each year the Agenda Setters poll reveals the most influential people in tech and ranks the top 50 figures, analysing the latest trends and exposing the forces at play. You'll find full biographies of the Top 50, plus you can now use the Agenda Setters graph feature to look back over eight years of poll data and chart the rise and fall of some of the highest profile Agenda Setters against each other.

Smart Business - driving value through IT
How are smart businesses using technology to both improve efficiency and reduce costs as well as to innovate and deliver tangible competitive advantage? This special report looks at the tactics CIOs use to get more bang for their buck and how they prioritise their IT budgets and measure success.

Full Disclosure
silicon.com's Full Disclosure campaign calls for a rethink of the UK law so that organisations will have to report breaches of their data security that could put their customers' sensitive personal information at risk. This special report investigates why the UK needs to rethink its data legislation, and brings you the views of the experts involved.

IT Risk Management
Businesses must ensure they understand the growing issue of 'risk' especially around their IT where users, new technologies and the spread of sensitive data combine to create an environment in which risk is rife. From understanding how risk manifests itself to the ways business should assess and address their level of exposure to risk, this special report looks to shine a light on an issue which is far more complicated than binary notions of 'secure' or 'insecure'. Can you risk not to read it?

Virtual Worlds
Do you know your Second Life from your Entropia Universe and There? Has your business worked out how it is going to capitalise on the new wave of virtual worlds? silicon.com looks at this fast-growing phenomena, and the best practice - and the pitfalls - of doing business in virtual environments. It looks at who the early leaders are - and why - and where the next wave of innovation is coming from. And what it could mean for your business.

CIO50 2007
They're leaders, influencers, innovators and strategists. They're at the top of the IT tree. And here, for the first time, silicon.com names them - the UK's top 50 CIOs. The UK CIO community, along with a panel of experts that includes headhunters and former CIOs, has voted on the most important and influential IT leaders in the land. Coverage includes biographies of all 50, in-depth analysis about the CIO role and the challenges in various vertical sectors such as financial services, government, retail, and details on the CIO50 expert panel and research methodology.

Know Your Network
How well do organisations really know their most important IT asset - their network? Are they in control of all activity conducted over their LAN and are they on top of managing employee activity and network performance? These issues can have a real impact on the IT department's ability to deploy essential business services and cut down on costs. They can also impact productivity and security across the organisation.

VoIP Security
Voice over IP (VoIP) promises to save companies money on calls and add functionality to their phone systems. But those benefits could quickly be erased should the VoIP network be compromised. silicon.com looks at what businessses - especially small and medium-sized enterprises - need to know about securing their VoIP systems and providing quality phone service on a data network.

Joined-up Enterprise
Do you know what's happening in all parts of your business? And does each part know what the others are doing - as well as what customers need and want? In this special report, we look at how small and medium-sized businesses can move toward the goal of becoming a 'joined-up enterprise' which eschews the idea of disparate departments and replaces it with a model where real-time data is shared across disciplines to improve and speed up decision-making.

Inside India
silicon.com travels to Indian tech hotspots of Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad to explore the exploding Indian offshore tech and BPO industry. We look at the major players, the big trends and where the next wave of innovation is coming from - plus above all, what this means for UK businesses.

Converged Communications
In this special report, silicon.com examines the emerging trend of converged communications - how telecoms providers are blending different types of services, whether mobile or fixed line, data or voice - and what this means in particular to the small to medium-sized enterprise.

Business Intelligence
By providing the means for sophisticated analysis of corporate data, business intelligence software promises to give organisations a competitive edge. silicon.com looks at real-world examples of where this technology lives up to its potential and examines how it can be used to best effect by IT and business executives.

Agenda Setters 2006
Who are the driving forces in the tech industry? Welcome to silicon.com's seventh annual Agenda Setters poll, in which we reveal the 50 most influential individuals in tech. Some are household names, some you've never heard of. But they'll all play a key role over the next year and remain influential long after. Read on for our biographies, in-depth analysis and more about the panel who chose the 50.

SME procurement
With so much attention on the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market as a place for growth these days, silicon.com looks at how these businesses use IT. We examine how SMEs make technology buying decisions - who do they go to for advice and what are the determining factors? - as well as how (and whether) IT affects their productivity and what they do with their budgets.

Inside China
From entrepreneurs at the Great Wall to Hong Kong's Octopus card - in May 2006 silicon.com senior reporter Dan Ilett traversed China, looking at how the giant country is developing its technology economy and advancing in IT. This special report will showcase a range of investigative features as well as Dan's warts-and-all diary.

IT Governance
The drive to cut costs afoot at many businesses means keeping a close watch on your IT assets. silicon.com examines the role proper IT governance can play in running an efficient, productive and cost-effective operation.

Business Traveller
Spend as much time on the road as in the office? silicon.com reports on the best technology for keeping you productive on the road - from gadgets and to modes of staying online - and offers advice for IT departments managing a mobile workforce.

CRM in the mid-market
Customer relationship management (CRM) can revolutionise the way a business interacts with and serves its customers - but what impact does it have on all parts of the organisation adopting it? In this special report, silicon.com looks at the issues medium-sized enterprises must consider to get the most out of CRM.

ID Management
Identity and access management is essential in today's world, where businesses, bound by ever-tighter compliance, recognise that sharing information electronically is inherently insecure. It's not just the nature of the data in question but also who is accessing it, who is changing it and who is using it for whatever purpose and in whatever way. silicon.com looks at how ID management plays a role in helping businesses protect their data.

E-crime and Hacking
Hacking and cyber crime continue to make the headlines, with ever more divisive attempts in play to steal data from networks and systems. Potentially sizable financial gains are attracting criminals from organised crime and the knowledge being created in this area is giving rise to a new wave of industrial espionage. In this special report, we examine how businesses can best protect themselves from today's threats.

Tech's Big Gamble
The highly competitive gaming industry is increasingly looking to technology to give it an edge over its rivals. From Las Vegas casinos to online bookmakers, technology is shaping the way we wager. In this special report we outline the trends and the developments as well as revealing the ways in which controversial technologies such as biometrics and RFID chips have found the ideal test bed in an industry which is no stranger to dealing with criticism.

Open source - real tales
Is open source software an accepted tool for business? silicon.com searches for real-world examples - both the successes and the failures - of enterprises using open source such as the Linux operating system and MySQL database. We also investigate further aspects of doing business with open source, including TCO for Windows versus Linux and the best business models.

Voice over IP
Voice over IP has been hailed the 'next big thing' in telecoms for years now but in recent months we're finally seeing evidence that CIOs and IT departments are embracing the technology. So what do businesses need to know about VoIP? silicon.com looks at where it has flourished, where it has failed to live up to its promise and where it's headed in future.

Offshoring
silicon.com takes a look behind the hype and hysteria at the business realities of IT offshoring to India and other regions, sometimes part of wider IT outsourcing or BPO deals. Our goal is to see beyond the clich - both pro - and anti-offshoring - looking at when and how to do it. Read our latest news and commentary coverage, plus on-the-scene reporting from four major offshoring locations in India.

The Spam Report
Unsolicited email is no longer a mere annoyance - it is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses and their IT infrastructure. Technology, education and legislation are all part of the fight... but is it a fight that can be won? silicon.com brings you ongoing coverage of this persistent menace.