Articles By Martin Slofstra

IT staff on the cheap

For many OF Canada's so-called solution-providers gathered recently in Halifax at the Breakaway Solution Provider event, the simple reality is their success hinges on how well they provide IT services to their smaller-to-medium

Published on: November 8th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Not just voice over IP

When it comes to hot technologies, voice-over-IP, which defines a way to carry voice calls over an IP (Internet) network by digitizing and packetizing voice streams, rises to the top of the list.

Published on: November 8th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Learning the hard way

Chief Information Officers may make or break their careers on developing new, value-added applications, but supporting old ones is where they spend the bulk of their time, attention and money. To combat the problem,

Published on: October 7th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Forgetting the Basics

Sometimes in our zeal to explore the merits of information technology, we get hung up on the fancy new tools that drive a company's business. And although these new applications are and should

Published on: October 7th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Ask the editorial director: What are the three Ts?

It used to be that if you wanted to start a successful publication in this business, you would choose from any of a number of hot new technologies.In the 1980s, we had all

Published on: October 1st, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Second Best: Conference Board says Canada is slipping

When the Conference Board of Canada, for the fourth straight year, ranked Canada as the second most connected nation among all OECD countries, the results would, at first glance, seem not so bad.

Published on: September 8th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Corporate Canada’s spending plans signal economic recovery: Survey

Overall IT spending intentions appear healthier and poised for recovery, according to a recent survey from Canaccord Capital in partnership with Computing Canada. In 2004, the survey indicates IT budgets will increase five

Published on: August 18th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

With converged networks, the stakes are higher for Nortel

It's a well-documented fact that Nortel needs to get its financial house in order. Nortel also needs to start showing technological leadership, and that it can execute. This became apparent to me after

Published on: August 9th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Service Counts

EDGE: You say you are not a typical CIO. What do you mean by that? SUNDAY: First of all, because of the nature of our (corporate) culture, we tend not to have governance

Published on: July 27th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Shadow departments

Chief information officers gathered at the CIPS Informatics conference May 17 to 19 sent a clear message to any end-user departments thinking about doing their own IT work: Tell us up front what

Published on: July 7th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Who died and made you CIO?

HAMILTON, Ont. -- Chief information officers gathered at this week's CIPS Informatics conference have sent a clear message to any end-user departments thinking about doing their own IT work: Tell us up front

Published on: May 19th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Under Control

EDGE: When did you first realize that there was a good business potential for the Internet? ARAFAT: It was 1994. I was involved with the Internet when it was only in the educational

Published on: May 11th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

New Rules: Governance and the CIO’s role

When it comes to the topic of corporate governance, excuse Toronto lawyer Chris Koressis for sounding somewhat jaded. After all, what is left to be said? Corporate governance is something every Canadian executive

Published on: May 11th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

The bird’s-eye view

EDGE: In your role, you do strategic planning. How is that undertaken? Palmaro: In Canada, it's about finding where the opportunities are. Let's look way out and set out a 10-year trajectory, which

Published on: April 15th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca

Ask the editorial director: Vendor visits

Now don’t get me wrong: when vendors come to our office, it’s much appreciated. It's a chance to add to our knowledge without costing us valuable time involved traveling back and forth to

Published on: March 9th, 2004 Martin Slofstra @itbusinessca