The topic of sustainability or green IT remains a key focus for everyone in the industry this year. On the bright side, doing business is more accessible than ever before. Advances in technology have reduced transaction costs, created broader access to global markets and advanced technologies, and levelled the playing field among small businesses, large corporations, emerging economies and industrialised nations. IBM’s Mark Latchford tracks the positive changes in sustainable IT.

Instead of succumbing to all the gloom and doom emanating from the global financial crisis, which by some rather alarmist reports will see 100,000 Australian small and medium businesses (SMBs) go down the gurgler, why not look for the opportunities, suggests D-Link’s Maurice Famularo.

The truth is that VoIP technology is really as simple as putting another IP-based application - voice and voice-related services in this case - onto the network. And it does provide cost savings as it enables a method of doing away with the legacy voice network by digitising voice into data so that it can ride on the existing data network. Grant Howe, country manager, ANZ for 3Com, poses the question: so what’s not to love about VoIP? He explains that VoIP’s cost and complexity is really in the licensing.

Global electricity prices have jumped more than 50% in the past five years, right along with a dramatic upswing in data centre energy consumption. Whether the motivation is reducing costs, minimising carbon footprint, or both, many Australian organisations are committed to finding solutions that help improve data centre efficiency. Emerson Network Power’s David Scott uncovers one solution guaranteed to lower your high-density energy bills.

Cloud computing is becoming an important new tool for IT managers in controlling the cost and complexity of business-critical applications and data. The technology is compelling to enterprises because it allows them to consolidate resources, provision services more quickly and even rationalise costs more effectively with new business models. But there are limitations that often limit the effective gains of a scalable cloud computing model.

Oracle Sun will join IBM, Dell and EMC at Storage Decisions Australia 2010, the premium storage event. [ + ]

In the current economic climate, companies simply cannot afford to lose customers. This means customer service must always be spot on, from the point of sale and well beyond, and a very large part of that is in the contact centre. So how are companies going to make sure that every customer contact results in complete satisfaction? Avaya’s Rob Wells provides an overview of the future of contact centres and the important impact this will have on business.

Storage Decisions Australia 2010 heads to Melbourne and, because of popular demand, international backup guru W Curtis Preston will present the keynote again. [ + ]

If your business relies at all on the internet, then you'd better get up to speed on IPv6 - if you don't, your customers won’t be able to reach you. Andrew Collins takes a look at what IPv6 means for business, how much time is left before the transition and what businesses need to do to prepare.

The Federal Government first announced its plans for an all-encompassing national e-health network midway through the naughties. Fast-forward to 2010 and Australia is still waiting. Andrew Collins takes a look at the e-health roadblocks and the consequences of a long development time.

With massive volumes of data being generated daily, organisations are being flooded with data and they are struggling to effectively manage information growth. Symantec’s Paul Lancaster sets out the reasons why deduplication technologies will help with data storage.

Voice&Data found that nib health fund’s Chief Operating and Technology Officer, Melanie Kneale, thrives on the diversity of her role which covers human resources as well as technology. The dual roles are a good combination as Kneale has the ability to get things done because the key levers of HR and IT fall into the same area of operations and everything related to execution reports to her so the goals are aligned.

Voice&Data’s Merri Mack talked to Hugh Humphrey to find out the rationale of his move to the world of convergence at Optus after his previous employer, Vodafone, joined Hutchinson in a joint venture - VHA - in 2009.

Capgemini Australia’s CIO Brett Wilson heralds the start of the New Year with optimism about more efficient and collaborative ways of working.

Voice&Data interviews Paul Young, CIO of the Ausenco Group, and finds being a CIO is not so much about the technology but about innovation and the people.