Research

The cover of the New York Times magazine last fall showed an old, disabled speed boat lying on a barren, cracked expanse of earth — which used to be covered with water.

The wild and wooly world of Web 2.0 development is a comfortable work environment for 20-something employees, says Harbrinder Kang, director of collaboration technologies for Cisco Systems, Inc. "This generation functions differently.

A recent survey found that $20 billion is spent annually on market research, and yet 80 percent of new items fail, according to Bart Steiner, founder and CEO of Phoenix-based Bulbstorm.com.

Arizona's most severe real estate downturn began in the late 1980s and stretched deeply into the next decade. At the abyss, home prices in the state had declined (on a repeat-sale basis) for a record 17 straight months.

Studies show family-led companies implement better long-term planning and generally have greater internal organizational commitment than public companies.

In late 2006, hackers stole information concerning 45.7 million debit and credit cards from the parent company of discount retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshalls.

The Phoenix economy "could be worse," says Lee McPheters, director of the JPMorgan Chase Economic Outlook Center at the W. P. Carey School of Business. And that's the good news.

Digital universe. Exabytes. Data fluidity value. Master data management solutions. This is the language of the future of business. As the amount of data companies attain and store grows, so too must the ability to deal effectively with this digital avalanche.

Collaborative technology is continuing to evolve — fostering innovation, connecting experts and creating relationships, between companies and their customers.