More Myths About Business TechnologyMore Myths About Business Technology

For an industry that's all about managing information, it's amazing how much misinformation seems to exist in IT circles—or among those outside the profession looking in. While information has highlighted six myths about business technology, there are plenty more. Here are another six common misconceptions, giving us a full dozen of these half-boiled ideas:

• Spam is killing our productivity. Not unless we let it. While it's true that your in-box can get jammed with unsolicited, unwanted, and often unsavory messages, much of the junk can be scanned and canned without ever opening it. That's not to say anti-spam fighters should let up or that better defenses aren't needed. But don't be overwhelmed by a problem that can be solved by the click of a mouse. If only the rest of life's problems were that easy.

• Linux will replace Windows. That's computer-science fiction. While it's true enough that a growing number of companies look for places to reduce their reliance on Windows, that doesn't mean Windows is at any great risk of losing its dominant position. Microsoft's desktop and server sales remain strong, and the company continues to add features and tighter integration.

• Web services are plug-and-play. The Web-services specifications—Soap, UDDI, WSDL, and XML—are a great way for programmers to design applications that are ready for integration, but few companies deploy them without extra work. Virtually all business applications have security and management requirements that go beyond what those specs support.

• You need an MBA to become a CIO. Or, equally wrong, you need to climb up the IT ranks to get promoted to CIO. In reality, either of those may be true, but neither is a hard-set rule. The job of the CIO requires a mix of business and technical skills, smarts, dexterity, and often industry-specific knowledge, but there's no single formula for getting there.

• Real-time business requires split-second response times. While it's true that real-time initiatives reduce the time it takes to move and act on information, that's an oversimplification that focuses on the wrong goal. The concept is more about optimizing business processes for improved agility and customer responsiveness than about sheer speed.

• The industry is hurting because tech stocks are down. Sure, stock prices are an indication of a company's health and outlook, but too much focus on quarterly numbers can mask indicators of important long-term trends. Among the bright spots: more powerful computers, falling storage prices, new wireless options, and cheaper and better handheld devices.

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