Stories by Jennifer Lonoff Schiff

If only senior IT executives had a crystal ball. Then they would be able to see what software they would need, or want, to license -- and could plan and budget accordingly.

It's that time of year when people start thinking about what they are going to do differently or change in the new year. So what should ecommerce businesses resolve to do, in terms of improving their website's design and content, in 2015? A number of online business owners, Web designers and digital marketers share what they think are the top seven design and content resolutions every ecommerce business should think about -- or resolve to do -- this coming year.

How can social media help businesses drive traffic to their ecommerce or bricks-and-mortar sites this holiday season? CIO.com posed that question to dozens of marketers and social media experts. Following are their top seven strategies for how to use Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube to engage customers and get them -- and their friends -- to check out (and hopefully buy) your holiday offerings.

Every organization wants its salespeople to be successful -- that is, close more sales. Yet ask many salespeople and they will tell you that their organization often makes it difficult for them meet their quotas, requiring them to do lots of administrative work (e.g., enter data into a CRM system) or not providing them with mobile tools.

Even with the best supply chain management or inventory tracking software, most businesses, at some point or another, have excess, old or undesirable inventory they want or need to get rid of. While companies can use a liquidator to dispose of unwanted inventory, that method typically only nets pennies on the dollar.

There are more 77 million baby boomers -- people born between 1946 and 1964 -- in the United States right now. By the end of 2015, Americans 50 and older will represent 45 percent of the population -- and will control approximately 70 percent (some say more) of the wealth.

When it comes to building an email marketing list, there is no secret formula. But there are steps you can take to increase your opt-in rates and decrease the number of Unsubscribes. What are those steps? Dozens of email marketing pros share their top nine tips for how to build a successful email marketing list.

No ecommerce site is perfect, especially when it first goes live. Even if you choose a seemingly straightforward or turnkey ecommerce solution, problems are bound to occur. And while it's hard to predict problems, there are certain common ecommerce problems, say the experts, which can be prevented -- or fixed relatively easily.

Project management seems so straightforward. You set a deadline. You set a budget. You select the right people. The project gets done.

According to Gartner, business Intelligence and analytics will remain a top focus for CIOs through 2017, with companies spending millions on traditional BI software, cloud BI services and now mobile apps and even social BI. However, as the type and number of BI solutions has grown, so too has the possibility of failure, of picking the wrong business intelligence software for your business problem or problems or of having end users not understand or properly use the solution.

Deploying an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is an expensive proposition, not just in terms of licensing dollars (SLA) and maintenance, but in terms of dedicated resources and time. And yet all too often, organizations, dazzled by vendor promises and hype -- Deploy our ERP software and your manufacturing business will instantly run smoother and increase profits! -- fail to come up with a viable long-term (or even short-term) roadmap.

In today's super social world, where customers will let you and everyone else know if they are not happy with your product or service, it is more important than ever to keep customers happy. While making sure customers receive the product or service they ordered on time and as promised is an excellent start, savvy businesses know they often need to go above and beyond on-time shipping if they want to keep customers coming back for more.

Technology and HR pros, as well as IT recruiters, share their advice on how recent graduates and those still in college can best position themselves for a technology career.

Ecommerce business owners cast their votes for the shopping carts and ecommerce platforms that are most tailored to the do-it-yourselfer -- no design or Web development team required.

You don't have to spend a lot to get a lot. Google AdWords users and experts share hands-on advice on how you can improve the ROI on your AdWords campaigns.