Thomas Hoffman

No one is mistaking the current IT jobs market for the one that sizzled during the dot-com days and inflated salaries to astronomical rates. But as the U.S. economy wrestles with a weak housing market and record oil prices, demand for IT workers is on the rise.

Companies are looking hard for IT professionals with skills in data centres, security and wireless technologies. IT departments will also look for workers with general business knowledge and fluency in foreign languages

Cut out the middleman and don't look for too precise a skills match, experts advise.

Business acumen, communication skills and listening abilities can turn a good tech hire into a great tech hire.

The best technology and best of intentions may not be enough in the world of electronic medical records (EMR) for a clinic in the Southern U.S. The new EMR system at Harbin Clinic has the strong support of its CEO, board of directors and chief medical officer. Its technology can improve patient outcomes while saving physicians money. But cultural issues have stretched the implementation from two and a half years to four.

Japanese companies and their international subsidiaries have started prepping for next year's implementation of a corporate governance framework that's comparable to the requirements imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the U.S.

For CIOs stuck in the salary squeeze, there

Abacus, which is 35 percent owned by Sabre, is just one of more than 1,000 customers that have been using Sabre's Web services since 2005. Travel agents, airlines and other travel services companies are finding that Web services provide faster and easier access to Sabre's global distribution system, the world's largest electronic travel reservation system.