Aldata has developed the Aldata Omni-Shopper Suite, an integrated set of software applications aimed at retailers and manufacturers of fast-moving consumer goods.

As Superstorm Sandy blew its devastating winds through much of the Eastern U.S. starting on Halloween, retailers had to deal with it just like everyone else. But few seemed to have anticipated the more than eight days - and more, in some cases - of outages, along with the gas shortages, closed roads, lack of food and water, plus the dead phone lines, lack of internet broadband access and dead cell towers.

Inventory optimization might seem like an old concept, but many companies fail to apply it properly, especially in the area of multi-echelon inventory management. Karin Bursa, vice president of marketing with Logility, details IO's key benefits and challenges.

JustEnough Software, a vendor of demand-management applications for retailers, distributors and brand owners, has launched its new Promotion Management tool.

In terms of logistics, Africa is one of the most exciting investment opportunities anywhere in the world, according to Sub-Saharan Logistics 2012, a report from Transport Intelligence, or Ti. Its untapped natural resources are vast, and foreign direct investment has poured in as Africans' purchasing power grows.

DB Schenker has opened a logistics academy in China to train local employees.

When Tony Earley was asked recently to identify the most serious issue facing the nation's giant utilities in the next 20 years, the answer was easy. It is, Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s CEO wrote, "the huge need for investment in basic infrastructure, from pipes and power lines to poles, transformers and more."

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.