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Cara Garretson

Cara Garretson

Senior Editor

  • cara_garretson@nww.com

Recent articles by Cara Garretson

Vacation interruptus: Don't let a tech crisis ruin a getaway

July 08, 2011

Planning on taking a vacation this summer? If you're a tech manager, you may find yourself with unwanted baggage -- guilt, anxiety over how things are going in your absence or even concern about the status of your job.

Bad IT management habits: Break them before they break you

July 05, 2011

Every worker develops a few bad habits -- maybe more than a few -- as the years on the job add up. IT pros are no exception: They lose focus or jump to conclusions or put off niggling tasks that could be finished in minutes.

Lies my vendor told me: Tech relationships gone wrong

March 25, 2011

Three years ago, a luxury retailer with a growing online business faced a nightmare situation: The order fulfillment service provided by its SaaS vendor for online transactions went down for two days during the critical Christmas season. The retailer's website couldn't accept orders for a 48-hour period, resulting in frustrated customers and lost business.

Cubicle wars: Best and worst office setups for tech workers

January 11, 2011

Consider the modern office layout: Open floor plan, lots of common space flooded with natural light, clusters of "pods" with low partitions (or none), all designed to encourage teamwork, boost productivity and -- management hopes -- improve the bottom line.

How to add depth to your IT team's bench

November 22, 2010

The potential for losing tech talent is on the rise these days. Thanks to an uptick in IT hiring and an increase in retirements among baby boomers, your A-team employee lineup may be in danger.

Cash-in on old IT equipment

October 12, 2010

Some organizations can earn a profit, or at least reduce the amount they have to pay to dispose of IT equipment, by allowing providers of IT disposal services to sell the assets they take away.

Recycling IT assets is serious business

October 12, 2010

Information technology departments that practice asset management are learning to master the art of retiring hardware at the right time. But making the decision to retire IT gear is just the beginning; tech managers must then figure out what to do with the systems that are past their prime.

Succession planning for IT: Get some depth to your bench

September 28, 2010

The potential for losing tech talent is on the rise these days. Thanks to an uptick in IT hiring and an increase in retirements among baby boomers, your A-team employee lineup may be in danger.

Stupid data center tricks

August 12, 2010

A university network brought to its knees when someone inadvertently plugged two network cables into the wrong hub. An employee injured after an ill-timed entry into a data center. Overheated systems shut down after a worker changes a data center thermostat setting from Fahrenheit to Celsius.

Big IT shops get serious about asset disposal

May 11, 2010

IT departments that practice asset management are learning to master the art of retiring hardware at the right time. But making the decision to retire IT gear is just the beginning; tech managers also need to figure out what to do with the systems that are past their prime.