Kathy, my new colleague at work, has built many business relationships over the years at our workplace. On a recent conference call, she reminisced with a colleague, who quipped “You sound the same!” Nowadays, it’s only at real-life social gatherings that we get to say, “You look the same.” In the connected workplace of virtualized environments our looks and attire matter less and less.

So what does matter then? Is it just voice? I don't think so.

For the past several days I have been pondering the news that Apple has a back door into their iOS product line allowing Apple to crack the devices that law enforcement cannot in order to aide with their investigations.

Bring your own device or BYOD is a practice that continues to be hotly debated in the business world. As this discussion carries on, the trend seems to be that more and more companies are embracing a BYOD strategy. As more companies are adopting the BYOD approach, their respective IT departments are scrambling to incorporate security policies to protect the company from potential threats. These threats are very serious and with a BYOD model it is imperative that employees take the necessary steps to protect themselves and the company.

CIO.com blogger Martha Heller, writing in CFO.com, offers some basic advice about how to grow your own IT talent. In a nutshell, she urges CIOs and CFOs to rotate IT leaders in and out of business units; to invite business leaders to meet with senior IT leaders; to embed IT personnel in business units and use a buddy system.