Organizations in every industry vertical are becoming more and more aware that high-performing employees are the most critical source of their strategic success. And employee performance management, along with training and development, is the fastest growing category of strategic human resource functions.

This is something organizations can offer to their employees who are saying they are really hurting from these gas prices.

This alliance has significant strategic benefits for any organization pursuing competency-based performance management. The set of competencies that a company chooses to measure and reward is a strategic business tool. Competencies help align individual objectives to strategy – and employee performance management makes sure the strategy gets executed.

These organizations want to serve, including private companies.

It's a shift in the way we go about doing our business. We've gone from seven customer-facing organizations, whether it's Air Force systems, Navy systems, whatever, to a more capabilities-focused organization where you're bringing together ... all of those programs that would create the opportunities for us to improve performance, improve our cost structure and respond to the transforming needs of those customers.

Media reports often leave the impression that Windows NT is being adopted by organizations of all sizes for every conceivable mission and that organizations are abandoning their investments in other operating environments. However, when IDC shines the light of empirical research on Windows NT usage, a different view emerges.