Special report: Each year we celebrate the IT organizations that made the best use of technology in pursuit of business goals, whether that involves ushering legacy systems into the modern era or revolutionizing how their companies harvest IT. This year’s winners prove that blazing a new path can yield large rewards. 2007 InfoWorld 100 Awards. Or view the top 10 IT projects in this slideshow. Security: Sometimes IT has to protect end-users from themselves. “Are we supposed to ignore the largest threat to our computer systems simply because our end-users disregard everything we tell them? Can I let my company get exploited over and over again, but tell my boss my hands are clean and I’m a success because I ‘secured’ their computer systems?” Roger Grimes poses in Protecting the end-user. “Once you note that some insecure technology or program is taking over your environment, either spend all your efforts to eradicate it, or accept it. If you have to accept it (because, for example, the CEO just posted his resume to Facebook), work to make it as safe as possible.” SOA: A services-oriented architecture might not rank up there with carbon footprints or recycling old PCs, but David Linthicum insists enterprise architecture is a corporate responsibility. “The core issue is that EA is and was a neglected area in most enterprises, and needs to be fixed … I’m not advocating focusing only on the strategic; you have to create a balance. Right now we’re making a mess, and are not making plans to clean it up.” Not everyone agrees with Linthicum, though. Follow-up: Reaction to SOA as a corporate responsibility. Software Development