Our View

Baseline - the Fusion of Business and Technology - is a handbook for the IT and business leaders who put technology to work for their enterprise. The magazine is dedicated to helping these executives, managers and professionals effectively execute technology initiatives in order to achieve a solid return on those investments. Baseline offers lessons learned in the form of real-world business case studies from a variety of organizations across a wide array of industries.

At a time when organizations are under enormous pressure to operate efficiently and cost-effectively, Baseline’s 125,000 technology decision-makers must make the right IT decisions at the right time to keep their companies in business and to ensure that they are in a good competitive position when the economy turns around. As budgets and staff are trimmed back, managers and executives have to make hard choices about what investments will provide the greatest return.

The goal: making technology decisions that are best for the business—especially in a tough economy. Achieving that goal requires the collaboration of business and technology leaders. Working together, they can make IT decisions that will lead to business success.

The growing partnership between IT and line-of-business (LOB) executives and the convergence of technology and business represent a significant trend affecting business today. This trend has been accelerated by technologies such as cloud computing, software as a service, Web 2.0, social networking and mobility—technologies in which LOB managers play a major role.

Recognizing that IT and LOB executives are in a new playing field with a whole new set of rules, Baseline strives to provide common ground by focusing on the business value of IT and the convergence of technology and business.

Unlike most technology and business publications, we have subscribers from both sides of the house. Though these decision-makers operate in different spheres, they share an understanding of the critical value technology brings to business, and they know how vital IT is to the success—and, in some cases, the survival—of an enterprise.

To meet the needs of these two distinct audiences, Baseline provides in-depth articles that focus on IT solutions to business challenges. These stories combine strategy and tactics; evaluation and implementation; investment and ROI; legacy and emerging technologies; architecture and processes.

Many of the articles are written by IT and LOB executives, including Baseline readers. Others are penned by industry analysts and consultants, as well as veteran journalists with many years ofexperience in the field of business technology.