Steve Alexander

In this tough economy, IT workers are taking on more projects and longer hours. With job-related stress on the rise, they're looking for ways to cope.

Joseph Lacik Jr. doesn't try to measure the return on investment (ROI) of his company's marketing Web site. The fact that Dallas-based Aviall Inc. was saved from financial disaster by a controversial multimillion-dollar IT project that included developing the Web site as one key element is all the return he needs to see.

Buried under an avalanche of paper requests for insurance bids, Providence Washington Insurance Co. sometimes took weeks to reply

Outside of a few MBA programs, there are no schools that formally teach IT professionals how to become chief technology officers. But aspiring technology managers and CTOs who want to learn from their peers can receive an informal education through a number of regional CTO clubs. While there are only a handful of these groups, they appear to be broad enough in scope to help both junior IT managers and seasoned CTOs. More recently, members say, they've been especially helpful to managers by providing guidance on how to steer budgets, projects and staffs through tough economic times.

When Ragy Thomas became CTO of Bigfoot Interactive, a New York e-mail outsourcing company, he needed help in explaining technology issues to management. Fortunately, Thomas had a mentor in IT consultant Jon Williams.

Business starts with a particular set of computing needs. If it grows, the organization needs to be...

On-line job hunting is changing for IT professionals, and the traditional r

Tales of high salaries and big opportunities have encouraged thousands of IT people to seek careers in...