This week in Network World

NOTE: This page shows all of the stories that appeared in print this week. However, some of them may also have appeared online before the print publication date and the text may not exactly match the print version. The date on each story is the date it appeared online.

Feature article

What really matters in IT today
The last 10 years have been rough on IT. After the industry run up during irrational exuberance, the great collapse took with it corporate confidence in technology, led to layoffs and made everyone question technoloy as a viable career track. But IT matters – the network matters, as does security, and new technologies such as SOA and wireless.

IT people, places and things that matter
Google, Steve Ballmer, Vonage, the Storm worm and Networx all made Network World’s list of the 10 biggest newsmakers of 2007.

Tech moves that matter - for good and bad
The industry's focus on virtualization, collaborative technologies and next-generation networks has been all right, while vendor NAC, net neutrality and Vista snafus have been all wrong.

Three IT projects that matter
Privacy, enterprise rights management and data center automation projects are getting the green light.

The iPhone: Why one little gadget matters so much
With its picture gracing the cover of Time's Nov. 12 “Best Inventions of 2007” issue, the Apple iPhone is undisputed as a tech product that matters to consumers. These days in IT that can mean only one thing: the enterprise is its destiny.

IT people, places and things we want to hear more – or less – about in 2008
Municipal Wi-Fi and Applie’s Leopard grow in newsworthiness while NTP’s patent fights face lack of interest in 2008.

Three IT technologies that matter for 2008 - and beyond
Application dependency mapping, complex event processing and security-oriented architecture promise to improve business service management, business activity monitoring and security in SOA environments for IT managers looking to get ahead of the curve in 2008.

Tech start-ups that should matter
3Leaf Systems, Apatar, Attune Systems, mValent, NewStep Networks, Palo Alto Networks, Scalent Systems, Sipera Systems, Tango Networks, Xangati make our top start-ups of 2007 list.

What doesn't matter in IT anymore
Enough about what matters, here's what doesn't, or won't by the time we hit 2009 -- from A to Z.

IT job skills that matter: Where you can leave a mark
Hot IT job skills center on business acumen, like project management expertise.

Three IT deals that matter
Technology mergers have soared since 2002, culminating with 20 deals exceeding a billion dollars in the first quarter of this year alone. The biggest IT deals of the year include Cisco and WebEx, Citrix and XenSource, and HP and Opsware.

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Does Verizon's Voyager stack up to the iPhone?
Keith checks out the Verizon Wireless Voyager multimedia phone, and compares it to Apple's iPhone. Watch now