You meet someone at a party. She (or he) is cute, and you’re interested. But you do not catch the name, and in the crush of the party you become separated. You describe your new acquaintance to a few friends, but no one can provide an identification. You go home, alone and frustrated.

How can your enterprise capture meaningful data from online sources like social networks -- and who is responsible for leading the effort?

A move toward SaaS (software as a service) platforms makes a lot of sense for a lot of reasons. The economics of using someone else's computers and applications in a shared environment, with all the advantages of private access and none of the pain associated with having to manage all the parts and pieces, are undeniable.

To improve a process, a business often faces a choice between two alternatives: improve it incrementally, marginally, piecemeal; or redesign it from a clean slate.

Lots of big brands are in hot water right now -- witness the many rapid-fire hits Toyota's taken in recent weeks. Now it turns out the beloved Energizer Bunny may himself be a malicious hacker.