In many companies, marketers have been first movers in social media, tapping into it for insights on how consumers think and behave. As social technologies mature and organizations become convinced of their power, they will take on a broader role: informing competitive strategy.

In July 2009, Airbus became the first commercial aircraft manufacturer to announce plans to employ permanent radio frequency identification tags on parts for its A350 XWB aircraft. Approximately 3,000 serialized, replaceable, repairable parts with a limited lifespan were covered. To date, the company has received and successfully tested its RFID tagged parts as the first A350 XWB aircraft make their way through the production process. Now, Airbus is the first aircraft manufacturer to expand the permanent tagging of selected parts across its entire fleet.

Smartphones may be among retailers' strongest allies this holiday season, according to Deloitte's annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

There's a lot of hype about companies moving to the cloud, but are they actually doing it? Cloud adoption is not as rapid as some providers might lead you to think, but TEC data shows that interest in cloud computing is picking up.

Canadian luxury leather goods retailer Danier Leather is piloting a radio frequency identification system at three of its Toronto-area stores, intended to ensure that products are replenished on the sales floor as they are sold to customers, as well as reduce the number of labor hours related to counting inventory.

While Gartner isn't significantly raising its global IT growth forecast - which it revised downward earlier in the year - its relatively flat forecast doesn't apply to at least one sector of information technology: the big data labor market.

DeltaTRAK, a cold chain, environmental monitoring and food safety management solutions provider, has introduced the Cold Chain Vaccine Monitoring Card.

Every company possesses supply-chain capabilities and supporting IT systems. But they often don't mesh. Roddy Martin, senior vice president of global supply chain with CCI, calculates the price of misalignment - and lays out a strategy for combating the chronic problem.

Every business needs to "go digital." Data about customers, competitors, suppliers and employees are exploding. Ninety percent of all data were created in the past two years. By 2016, there will be 3 billion internet users globally, and the internet economy will reach $4.2tr in the G-20 nations. No company or country can afford to ignore this phenomenon.

Merging of channels is a hot topic, catapulted by the suddenness of mobile popularity. But beyond the buzz, companies need to provide the right mix of services, messages and pricing. So often that isn't the case.