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25 articles.
2010 archive
Articles and decision guides.
Encryption Key Custody Determines Real ControlWhoever holds the keys holds the data, regardless of which country the servers sit in.HIPAA and Offshore Processing of Health DataMedical transcription and claims work abroad tested whether contractual controls satisfy US regulators.Safe Harbor 1.0: The Framework That (Temporarily) Solved EverythingEU-US data transfer framework established—why Safe Harbor's collapse (2015) was predictable.Subprocessor Chains: The Risk Three Layers DownVendors of vendors moved data to jurisdictions customers never approved or knew about.Google Exits China: When Compliance Costs More Than RevenueA major market withdrawal showed that data and censorship demands can outweigh commercial opportunity.Intranet Search Was the Real Knowledge ProblemContent existed but could not be found, so employees recreated documents rather than search for them.Project Tool Fragmentation Across DepartmentsEach team picked its own tracker, making portfolio visibility impossible for leadership.Stuxnet (2010): When Cyberwarfare Became RealNation-state attacks go mainstream—why SMBs inherit nation-state threat techniques.Video Conferencing: Hardware Rooms vs Software ClientsExpensive room systems lost to software as bandwidth improved and laptops gained cameras.Office 365 Preview Signals Microsoft's Cloud TurnBundled cloud productivity reset competitive dynamics for every standalone collaboration vendor.BYOD Arrives Before Any Policy ExistsEmployee-owned devices reached corporate data while legal, HR, and IT were still arguing about ownership.SIEM Deployments That Generated Alerts Nobody ReadLog collection without tuning or staffing produced compliance evidence instead of detection capability.NetSuite IPO (2007) Bears Fruit in 2010: Cloud ERP Goes MainstreamCloud ERP adoption accelerates—SaaS ERP selection criteria that still matter in 2026.WikiLeaks and the Insider Data Exfiltration LessonMass disclosure by an authorized user exposed the limits of access-based trust models.Mobile Malware Becomes a Business ProblemSmartphones accessing corporate mail created an endpoint class with almost no management controls.Offshore Attrition: The Hidden Cost of Cheap LaborHigh turnover erased savings through retraining, error rates, and lost process knowledge.Multi-Entity Consolidation Without a Corporate SystemGroup reporting assembled in spreadsheets creates audit exposure that grows with every acquisition.The Rise of Back Office Platforms: When BPO Became BOaaSPlatform-based service delivery emerges—build vs buy vs outsource decision framework.Back Office Metrics That Actually Predict ProblemsAging, rework rate, and first-pass yield forecast issues that cost-per-transaction hides.Cloud Accounting Reaches Small Business ScaleBrowser-based ledgers and bank feeds automated bookkeeping that previously required a local practitioner.Business Cases Built on Overstated BenefitsHeadcount savings rarely materialized because the work moved rather than disappeared.Manufacturing Execution Systems Meet ERPShop-floor data integration turned production reporting from monthly guesswork into operational control.The iPad (2010) Changes Work: Mobility Meets CollaborationTablets force rethinking of collaboration interfaces—mobile-first collaboration design principles.SaaS ERP Total Cost of Ownership Over Ten YearsSubscription pricing looked cheaper early and required different assumptions to compare honestly.Two-Speed IT: Stable Core, Fast EdgeKeeping ERP stable while innovating at the edges became the dominant architectural compromise.