Gerry Blackwell

As a leading Canadian loyalty firm, Aeroplan is no slouch at doling out rewards to its customers. By implementing a service oriented architecture, the company is reaping some rewards of its own. IT exec Remi Lafrance provides an inside look at Aeroplan

Most industries have been able to use information technology to streamline operations and bring significant efficiencies. But healthcare, a sector that could benefit tremendously from the application of IT, is a notable laggard in this regard. Why is healthcare IT on the sick list? Several prominent IT executives in this sector offer their diagnosis of the problem, along with some ideas for remedying it.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) may be the hot button of the moment in enterprise application development, but at the Ontario government, it's really nothing new. "For us, SOA is more a re-branding of an approach we've had in play since about 1999," says Ron Huxter, chief technology officer. "We referred to it then as a common components approach."

Long before service-oriented architecture became the next big thing, the Ontario Public Service was focussed on harvesting as much reuse of I.T. components as possible. Now OPS is reaping the benefits of this approach. Can commercial enterprises replicate what OPS has done? Chief Technology Officer Ron Huxter says

For most organizations, merely backing up data is no longer enough. Business needs and corporate governance regulations have made the introduction of archiving and data retrieval technology a must. Here

No longer a consumer phenomenon in North America, the free IP calling service is becoming a viable business option.

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Time and the mobile gadget industry stand still for no man, and this year was no exception to that rule. From the glut of new products out in the last 12 months, we've chosen a few that caught our attention for your Christmas shopping list. They range from a pricey portable PC-cum-DVD-player to an inexpensive keychain gadget that sniffs out Wi-Fi networks and hotspots. Is every product here a must-have for your organization? Highly unlikely, but you may find a use for some.