Very few people look for previously printed documents in their offices anymore. Printing them is so easy, that rather than search for printed items, we just print them again. At Xerox Research Centre of Canada, we have been running a prototype of the erasable paper technology described in today’s New York Times article. The wonderful thing about transient documents is that you can follow the inclination to print, and just print again using the same paper, removing the guilty feeling about filing up your recycling bin. Take cover sheets for example--they only serve a useful function until your print job has been identified. Our scientists really liked the fact that we could replace cover sheets with a re-printable transient sheet. Using the transient document as the cover sheet, it could be reprinted over 20 times, eliminating any guilt about waste.

Paul Smith
Manager, New Materials Design and Synthesis Laboratory
Xerox Research Centre Canada

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I’ve had the privilege of leading the panel discussions and audience interaction sessions during a series of Security Summits that began this spring at the historic Boston Stock Exchange and concluded last week at the pinnacle of Chase tower in Phoenix. At each event we were met by enthusiastic companies that have a genuine concern about security.

And yet, most people would probably not think of Xerox when they think of security. The fact of the matter is Xerox has not only been thinking about security for a long time, it’s been acting on it as well. Here’s why. Xerox has more than 50,000 patents worldwide, including 12,000 in the United States. That is the equivalent of two patents a day. Before these ideas were formally protected under the patent law, they were trade secrets. If trade secrets are not properly inventoried, classified, and controlled by handling policy and procedure, they are vulnerable to theft, loss, and/or misappropriation. This understanding became a part of the Xerox culture and this is the bottom line: Xerox does not sell security; it delivers it in products, services, and innovative technologies. “We deliver quality and excellence in all we do” is one of six core values that guided Xerox over the years and since its inception. I would suggest that you cannot have ‘quality and excellence’ in a product and not have security. A quality product is a secure one. From the drawing board to the production line, all components and sub-systems of the device are designed and delivered with security in mind. Additionally, they are subjected to rigorous third party laboratory evaluation and Common Criteria certification for added assurance of security performance.

This holistic approach to security extends beyond the product to the fleet where an entirely new host of security implications are introduced to a customers enterprise network. Having dynamic software tools to manage operations is essential to the holistic security model. Innovative technologies and print mark solutions provide document control and accountability as they ‘round-trip’ the paper and digital worlds. All important considerations in mitigating risk in today’s global enterprise environment.

For more of my thoughts on this, check out the interview I did with Dan Verton, Security Summit panelist and vice president and executive editor of Homeland Defense Media.

David Drab
Principal, Information Content Security Services
Xerox Global Services

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As publisher of CIO Magazine I meet many chief information officers and senior IT executives. And, I have access to the planet's best research on what motivates these important tech execs.

Better communication with key constituents and alignment of business and technology initiatives remains at the top of their agendas. And has so since 2004.

And that's why the following set of data puzzles me.

The US Department of Commerce reports that corporate profits in America have been at double digit levels now for 16 consecutive quarters. Or, since June 2002. At face value that would seem to suggest a receptive environment in the corner office to increased tech investment.

But that is not the case.

The well respected and widely published CIO Magazine Tech Poll, conducted quarterly in conjunction with Deutsche Bank since August 2000, reports tech budgets in the United States will increase a paltry 6.4% in the coming 12 months. And, that includes ops expenses like staff salaries, overhead etc.

The final piece of perplexing data comes to us from Gartner which has a report out claiming growth in tech investments will lag topline growth in corporate America until 2010!

When I ask myself "why", the only conclusion I can reach is this: CIOs are largely failing in their missions to communicate the business value rationale of IT investment. One would think, it they were better communicators, the growth in IT budgets would at least match topline growth of the firm.

What's your take? What grade would you give CIOs and senior IT execs you know as communicators?

My November 1, 2006 column covers the topic and offers up the CIO IT Value Matrix poster as a roadmap for better communication.

Gary Beach
Publisher
CIO Magazine
508 935 4202

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