Oracle image via Shutterstock

All sorts of news came out during recent IT conferences and events including SugarCon, the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit, and the Collaborate user group conference. Take a look at what was said at each event in this week’s roundup.

1. Urban Outfitters looks creative destruction in the eye – Linda Tucci (SearchCIO)

While most CIOs and business executives continue to hear the term ‘creative destruction’, Urban Outfitters CSO Matthew Kaness has experienced it first hand, and responded by creating a brand new online experience for the e-commerce giant.

2. RFID technology options evolve beyond tags – Beth Stackpole (SearchManufacturingERP)

Although RFID is a mature technology, Beth Stackpole takes a look at five new technologies with the potential to dramatically change RFID’s course.

3. SugarCon speaker reveals 10 reasons why social CRM projects fail – Mark Brunelli (SearchCRM)

During this year’s SugarCon conference, David Myron, editorial director of CRM Magazine, discussed the top 10 reasons why social CRM projects fail including culture issues and the lack of compliance policies.

4. Ingram Micro cloud services pitch: Cloud enablement for partners – Lynn Haber (SearchITChannel)

During the Ingram Micro Cloud Summit last week, Lynn Haber reports the company laid out its strategy to help partners take a bite out of the $25 billion worldwide cloud services market in 2013.

5. Oracle President Mark Hurd: We don’t set out to be hard to work with – Mark Fontecchio (SearchOracle)

“We do not want to be hard to work with,” he said. “We don’t sit in a room and strategize about how we can be harder to work with.” Those were Oracle President Mark Hurd’s words during an exchange at the Collaborate user group conference.

In the comments, tell us what you think is behind Oracle’s recent struggles.

Disclaimer: All videos presented in the “YouTube IT Video of the Week” series are subjectively selected by ITKnowledgeExchange.com community managers and staff for entertainment purposes only. They are not sponsored or influenced by outside sources.

SOA image via Shutterstock

Did you miss the latest updates from the technology industry? Not to worry, here are 5 stories from around the TechTarget network for this week’s roundup.

1. Why SOA applications are easy to migrate to cloud – Tom Nolle (SearchSOA)

As more enterprises look to move their applications to the cloud, Tom Nolle looks at the reasons why SOA applications are the easiest to migrate.

2. FTC mobile privacy guidelines put mobile ecosystem and CIOs on notice – Linda Tucci (SearchCIO)

With the new Federal Trade Commission guidelines on mobile data, Linda Tucci says CIOs should be on high alert and update their data privacy laws before it’s too late.

3. Research: Indirect sales of IT products flat in 2012 – Lynn Haber (SearchITChannel)

Bad news for technology sales as The NDP Group Inc. reported IT sales remained flat for the third consecutive year at $58.5 billion but the storage industry did see a big jump in sales with a 10.4% increase.

4. Acme Packet buy designed to enhance Oracle communications portfolio – Mark Fontecchio (SearchOracle)

Mark Fontecchio discusses Oracle’s proposed multibillion-dollar purchase of the networking company Acme and the prospects of Oracle becoming a networking company itself.

5. Green information technology initiatives: How do you demonstrate ROI? – Editorial Staff (SearchCIO)

The SearchCIO editorial team and Twitter followers weighed in on several topics from around the IT industry including the question:  What green information technology efforts will shape the data center of the future?

Smartphone industry image via Shutterstock

New products, orders, and ideas seem to be the main theme among this week’s best IT quotes. Which is your favorite?

“Our core mission is to help you, our customers, to connect to your customers in a whole new way.”
- Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff discussing how his company’s SaaS products will enable the ‘social enterprise‘ during his keynote address at Dreamforce 2012. While Benioff might believe his company was the first to create the cloud-mobile-social connection, Ron Miller doesn’t believe that’s the case.

“The smartphone market, and particularly the iPhone market, will slow next year after very strong shipments of the next iPhone through year end.”
- Kevin Smithen, analyst at Macquarie Securities, predicts the smartphone industry will slow down next year due to several factors including slower innovations and more expensive data plans.

“As much as we are doing, we must do even more.”
- Janet Napolitano, U.S Secretary of Homeland Security, speaks about cyber security during a Senate Committee on Homeland Security meeting. According to Napolitano, an executive order on cyber security is close to completion after the Senate’s bill continues to remain bogged down in Congress.

“We think the word is starting to spread that the products have improved since introduction last year.”
- Brian Schwartz, analyst at Oppenheimer, believes Oracle’s Fusion Applications product are starting to improve as many experts wonder if a Fusion App cycle is on the way.