Careers: In response to Bob Lewis’ column on project estimation, in which he asserts that trust is requisite for success, one reader writes, “No one trusts the IT guys in the room. They make more money than the business people and the business people always think IT projects take way too long.” Lewis agrees to an extent but explains in this Advice Line post that his group prioritizes reestablishing trust between IT and just about everyone else. “It can be done, and yes, it is that important.” From the feature well: Building on that, some IT shops are transforming themselves into self-sustaining operations and, in so doing, becoming more effective and ultimately reshaping the relationship between business and IT. Purdue University, one such example, began rolling out a user-centric approach when delivering IT services to students and faculty — a move that helps it build the right systems for users and better align with the business. There are three other examples in IT as a service: taking care of business.The news beat: Contrary to weekend rumors, Cisco Systems is acquiring selected assets of Utah Street Networks, just not Tribe.net. Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd says that the company still has to reduce its cost structure to attain more profitability and growth. McAfee appoints Dave DeWalt as its new CEO and president; DeWalt is a former executive vice president at EMC. And a group of U.S. Senators introduce a ‘competitiveness’ bill that would double the amount of funding that goes toward math and science programs. Careers