Sept. 26, 2013

Companies have plans for big data. A survey by Gartner Inc. found that 64 percent of companies worldwide plan to invest in big data this year, up from 58 percent last year. However, less than 8 percent have deployed it."The hype around big data continues to drive increased investment and attention, but there is real substance behind the hype," said Lisa Kart, research director at Gartner.

IGate Corp. (NASD: IGTE) named Ashok Vemuri as president and CEO effective Sept. 16. The appointment of Vemuri comes after the company terminated president and CEO Phaneesh Murthy in May citing an internal investigation over an employee claim of sexual harassment.The company named Gerhard Watzinger as interim president and CEO during the search for a permanent CEO. Watzinger will remain with iGate in an advisory role temporarily to assist the Vemuri's transition.Vemuri comes from Infosys Ltd.

Big data is a worthwhile investment of time and resources, according to 90 percent of information technology leaders and 84 percent of IT professionals in a new survey by TEKsystems. However, both leaders and professionals say there's a significant shortage of workers with the skills required to take advantage of big data."While the promise of big data initiatives are commonly accepted, the organizational readiness is questionable," said TEKsystems Research Manager Jason Hayman.

Computer science majors had the fourth-highest average starting salary among all U.S. grads earning bachelor's degrees in this year, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

A new cyber security survey found that only a 35 percent of companies are completely or very confident in the security of their information. The survey included 216 technology company executives done by Silicon Valley Bank."The survey shows us the threat of a cyber attack is not just hype," said Bob Curley, managing director of corporate finance for Silicon Valley Bank. "A surprising number of technology companies we heard from say the threat to their IP and their business is very serious.