Overpatching is expensive

March 11, 2009 Published by  SearchCIO-Midmarket.com IT News and Trends Get smart about patching security vulnerabilities Linda Tucci, Senior News Writer How can companies be free of security vulnerabilities? They could ferret out all the flaws in their computer products and patch them. They could prevent flaws from being exploited by shutting down systems. Of course, neither is good for business or the budget. That's the view of Peyton Engel, a technical architect who heads the security assessment team at CDW Corp., at the recent Fusion 2009 CEO-CIO Symposium in Madison, Wis. Instead, companies need to spend less time reacting willy-nilly to security vulnerabilities and more time asking whether threats are likely to affect them, Engel said. He recommends companies identify the point of diminishing returns of patch management by weighing the probability and severity of the security vulnerability, rather than the severity alone. READ FULL STORY Maximizing your application software investments Midmarket CIOs can optimize their application software investments by revisiting service levels, support and customization options. This can lead to reduced costs and quicker ROI. MORE ON APPLICATION SOFTWARE INVESTMENTS Targeted IT communications key to ITIL implementation success Many companies are implementing ITIL without considering the importance of an IT communications plan. Get expert advice on ways to target your IT communications for ITIL success. MORE ITIL RESOURCES CIO Decisions Ezine The CIO Decisions Ezine offers senior IT executives a must-read package of articles on the most pressing technology and management issues facing midsized companies. Each issue, published bimonthly in an artfully designed PDF document, includes articles, research and commentary on two strategic technology topics. LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EZINE   ADVERTISEMENT   Get answers to all your CIO questions on ITKnowledgeExchange.com Get answers to your policy, business/IT alignment, ERP and IT architecture questions today. View all the latest CIO related questions and answers. Ask your IT questions today and get answers from your peers. View all CIO related questions recently answered by the IT Knowledge Exchange community.   ABOUT THIS E-NEWSLETTER This e-newsletter is published by SearchCIO-Midmarket.com, part of the TechTarget network. TechTarget provides IT professionals with the resources they need to perform their jobs: Web sites, newsletters, forums, blogs, white papers, webcasts, events and more. Copyright 2009 TechTarget. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. If you no longer wish to receive IT News and Trends from SearchCIO-Midmarket.com go to unsubscribe: http://searchCIO-Midmarket.techtarget.com/u?track=NL-973&em=sekhargreen%40gmail.com&uid=4946246&eid=693071& Unsubscribe requests may take up to 24 hours to process; you may receive additional mailings during that time. A confirmation e-mail will be sent when your request has been successfully processed. Please note, this will not affect any other subscriptions you have signed up for. Contact Us: SearchCIO-Midmarket.com Member Services 117 Kendrick Street, Suite 800 Needham, MA 02494 Contact: Webmaster@techtarget.com When you access content from this newsletter, your information may be shared with the sponsors or future sponsors of that content as described in our Privacy Policy: PRIV LINK