Financial services companies spent a greater share of their revenue on IT than any other industry last year, at almost 9%, according to a new survey of corporate chief information officers.
Yet annual salaries for CIOs at finance firms are falling faster than in any other industry. After dropping for three straight years, at $210,000 they're at their lowest since 2007.
The downward pressure on pay is occurring even as CIOs are expanding their roles into areas such as security, strategy and risk management, the survey showed.
Among all industries, IT budgets at health care companies are rising the fastest, while retail companies slashed their portion of revenue devoted to tech by a whopping 45% last year. (CIO)
Nailing the Developer Interview (FINS)
For managers hiring software developers, the ability to innovate and work as part of a team is as important as coding skills. Read on for more tips on how to ace a developer interview.
Growth Is in Tech (VentureBeat)
The global market for PCs, televisions, mobile phones and other consumer electronics is forecast to grow 10% this year, to just under $1 trillion. While that's slower than the 13% growth in 2010, it's more than twice the expected growth rate of the world economy as a whole.
Cloud As Job Killer? (Computerworld)
Less than one in five companies are using cloud-based computing today, but 88% expect to do so in the next three years. The trend could have a big impact on the jobs of IT administrators and support pros.
NYC Software Challenge Deadline Nears (NYC)
The deadline for New York's BigApps 2.0 challenge, which will pay $20,000 to whomever develops the best software using the city's public data, is just three weeks away.
Qualcomm Gets Acquisitive (Bloomberg)
Qualcomm, the biggest maker of mobile phone chips, said it agreed to acquire Atheros Communications of Santa Clara, Calif., for $3.2 billion in cash to broaden its line of wireless networking products.
Strong U.S. Payroll Growth (WSJ)
U.S. private sector payrolls jumped by nearly 300,000 workers in December, three times more than forecast, a sign that economic growth may be getting strong enough to lower unemployment.
SCVNGR Hiring After Funding Round (FINS)
SCVNGR, the Boston area startup that just raised $15 million from Google and other investors, plans to hire about 50 people in 2011, mostly at its Cambridge, Mass., headquarters.
Surging Tablet Sales (Forrester Research)
U.S. sales of electronic tablets are expected to more than double this year to about 24 million units, with Apple's iPad continuing to dominate the market, according to an updated forecast from an industry research group.
A New Mobile Payments Gorilla? (ReadWriteWeb)
Anyone working on mobile payments technology should be aware that many signs point to Google entering the market soon.
For all the news you need throughout the day, follow techFINSider on Twitter and Facebook.