In the latest of a long line of data and storage-related buys, IBM said Friday it has acquired Diligent Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

Diligent, which has offices in Framingham, Massachusetts, and Tel Aviv, is known for its de-duplication technology, a technique for saving storage space by eliminating redundant data, such as multiple copies of the same email attachment within an email archive. The company’s ProtecTIER product employs an in-line de-duplication engine that does the work as data is brought into a system, not after the fact, which saves time, according to Diligent’s Web site.

The average raise for IT staff across the board is a paltry 3 to 4 percent, but that doesn’t have to be your fate if you approach the process intelligently. "You have to really go above and beyond to merit a higher raise, or at least be in a hot technology area where there is a lot of demand," said Lily Mok, an analyst at Gartner.

Gartner’s 2007 Market Compensation Study found that companies often pay 10 to 15 percent premiums to attract or retain IT professionals with Oracle, Java, J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition), .Net, SAN (storage area network), SAP, Microsoft SQL Server, PeopleSoft, Unix or IT compliance skills. In addition, specific positions, which tend to be difficult in terms of hiring and retention, also can merit higher raises. These include database administrator, system architects, ERP (enterprise resource planning) programmers, Web application programmers, lead application developer, network manager, network engineer and network architect.

The White House isn’t the only government office bungling its document management responsibilities, according to a new report that claims there is an "appalling lack of progress" in moving federal agencies to electronic record keeping.

Instead, CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) said April 16 that the government is clinging to "outdated, inefficient and ineffective paper record keeping systems" when readily available off-the-shelf software is available for the task.

Technical skills may never die, but areas of expertise wane in importance as technology advances force companies to evolve and IT staff to forsake yesterday’s craft in favor of tomorrow’s must-have talent.

"There is less need for system-side knowledge. In the past, IT folks had to understand a lot about memory, drivers, and address locations, and what used which interrupt, but nowadays that stuff is plug-and-chug even on many Unix systems," says Brian Jones, manager of network engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s Tech Communications Network Services unit in Blacksburg. "I feel like all the skills I have picked up along the way are valuable and help shape my thinking and troubleshooting abilities. I don’t know how to value or devalue these skills; it’s like they have taken on new value now."

Vendors and enterprises alike are faced with a new email threat landscape, where spam is increasingly laced with malware and targeted attacks have become more common. IT pros have a lot to consider–both in terms of technology and best practices–as they deal with the growing email security challenge. How do you take control of email–ruthlessly or humanely?

An internship is not a guaranteed job offer, but it could be if you play your cards right. Experts weigh in on the do’s and don’ts of being the kind of intern companies want to keep around.

"Internships are a great way to get your foot in the door in an organization and I recommend them highly. There’s often a gap between going to school and getting a job. That bridge between academic study and employment is easier to cross with an internship under your belt," said John Estes, vice president of Robert Half Technology.

The statistics back this up. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, one out of every three new hires from the 2007 graduating class landed their first job with a company they’d previously interned for.

Red Hat is dropping its consumer Linux desktop. That makes sense, analysts said, because the desktop is not Red Hat’s core strength. Red Hat develops Linux-based software and solutions for enterprises.

As a public, for-profit company, Red Hat must create products and technologies with an eye on the bottom line, and with consumer desktops this is much harder than with servers, the company said on its blog this week.

Microsoft has "dramatically" changed because of open-source software, the company’s Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie said Thursday as part of a wide-ranging discussion during the annual Most Valuable Professional summit in Seattle. He also talked about Microsoft’s mesh concept and the importance of virtualization.

"Microsoft fundamentally, as a whole, has changed dramatically as a result of open source," Ozzie said. "As people have been using it more and more, the nature of interoperability between our systems and others has increased." That means that from the very start when Microsoft begins developing new products, it considers what components it will want to open up to outside developers, he said.

Mike Rhodin leaves behind a strong legacy for IBM’s collaboration software unit, which posted 17 percent year-over-year sales growth in the first quarter. An IBM spokesperson told eWEEK the Armonk, N.Y., company made the change April 1, handing over the Lotus reigns to Bob Picciano, previously vice president of worldwide information management sales for IBM.

Oracle and IBM announced an expanded relationship to serve midsize businesses. IBM will develop, sell and implement Oracle-based enterprise application solutions developed specifically for midsize clients.

This expanded relationship will significantly extend the market reach for Oracle, and will allow IBM and its Business Partner channel to deliver industry-specific, end-to-end solutions based on Oracle Applications and IBM hardware and services. Building on the Oracle Accelerate strategy and the IBM Express Advantage program, IBM will deliver industry solutions that are packaged, priced and delivered specifically for midsized businesses.