With the cost of IT hardware falling (Moore’s law still holds sway) and new software delivery models, such as SaaS or open source, changing the software cost equation, IT vendors are turning to services to bolster revenue and profits. It’s a clear sign that despite all the talk of simplifying IT, companies like yours are going to need costly professional services to make the stuff work.

Although the current economic slump has cut into current IT professional services and consulting revenues, there has been considerable interest on the part of IT providers in acquiring professional services firms. HP, for example, previously acquired EDS for almost $14 million and recently renamed it HP Enterprise Services.

Dell, which is generally regarded as a hardware player, acquired Perot Systems, the professional services company Ross Perot formed when he bailed out of EDS years ago. Dell and HP compete ferociously in the computer desktop and server markets. more

On Sept. 21, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski delivered a major speech affirming his intention to implement network (net) neutrality, the policy that requires all Internet traffic to be treated equally. In that speech, he added two new principles to the four existing principles that have been the foundation of the stunning success of the Internet as an essential driver of the economy, and he directed the FCC to incorporate all six principles as official policy going forward.

Net neutrality calls for a neutral, pervasive, and ubiquitous broadband network free of restrictions on content, sites, or platforms, and restrictions on the kinds of equipment that may be attached or on the modes of communication allowed. In addition, net neutrality means one’s communication cannot be unreasonably degraded by other communication streams.

It is safe to say that no reader of this website could function effectively or his or her business could thrive without open, unfettered Internet access. Just think about email. That’s net neutrality. Yet there are forces opposed to net neutrality. more

Boston politics, always an interesting spectator sport, also is providing a lesson in the enforcement of data retention policies. The latest headline: “State orders [Boston] City Hall computers secured in email dispute.” A key insider, it turns out, routinely deleted email messages in clear violation of the state’s public records law.

The top aide to the mayor apparently deleted the messages in a way to avoid the messages being included in the city’s routine server backup. Throw in a contested mayoral election and a juicy bribery scandal involving a disgraced state senator who took payments to help a constituent get a liquor license from Boston City Hall—and no wonder state and FBI investigators as well as the candidates running for the mayor’s job all want to see those email messages. Computer forensics experts are recovering the messages now.

International Data Corp. (IDC) addressed the email retention issue in a recent report, “Insider Risk Management: A Framework Approach to Internal Security.” Insiders like the aide pose grave compliance risks that can suddenly bite the organization. Advises IDC: “Managing insider risk should be a top priority for CISOs, CSOs, and other C-level executives globally.” more

Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce.com, is one of the few true iconoclasts in the IT industry. So, when he called for the end of software maintenance fees a few months back, it got noticed — cheered by many, reviled by others.

Benioff’s comments have been reproduced all over the Internet, here and here for example. Sure they’re self-serving, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t onto something.

Software maintenance fees, paid annually, amount to a percentage of the price of the license, typically 15 percent. If the cost of a license is $100,000, then the annual license fee is $15,000. Each licensed software product you use probably comes with a maintenance fee. You don’t need many products before it adds up to real money. more

A posting on LinkedIn of a Network World piece described the Union Pacific Railroad’s long, painful, and still incomplete transition from mainframe-based computing to something new and sexy and maybe better and cheaper. It generated considerable discussion around whether the mainframe was a dinosaur verging on extinction.

Maybe your IT people say the same thing about the organization’s mainframe, usually in the context of wanting to get some slick new IT platform, something using Linux or blades and capable of SOA and Web 2.0 and mobile instead. Their basic argument is this: For what we spend on the mainframe, we could buy a ton of this other hot stuff and have money to spare.

A recent survey by CA (formerly Computer Associates) highlights the ongoing appeal of the mainframe. For example, 76 percent of respondents complained that managing a large number of distributed servers has become a cost issue. That’s a red flag.

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