As I  have done each and every year in the summer, I will be taking my annual break from technology. Through the month of August, I'll be decreasing my postings and management of this site in hopes of using the time to broaden my perspective. I need to spend some time recharging my batteries and my enthusiasm for content management systems as well as information technology in general.

I won't be abandoning CMS Report, but I'm really hoping you will be seeing me a little less here during the next few weeks. As always, I appreciate help in any articles submitted to CMSReport.com.  If you want to really help out, create an account today and start contributing your own CMS stories. I'll be checking email, moderation queue, and social networks now and then for submitted posts to make sure you're not waiting too long to see your story published.

It is now time for me to unplug and officially begin Technology Break 2011. Have a good rest of the summer and see you on the other side!

At the CIO50 event Silicon.com asked a number of European CIO's "Whats the best thing about working in IT?". I always enjoy hearing enthusiasm from those with IT careers.

Thanks to a Silicon.com article, I came across a list of the most stressful and least stressful jobs as rated by CareerCast.com.  I was surprised to see that people in IT related jobs such as computer system analyst and software engineer are considered to have some of the least stressful jobs around.  Really, less stress in IT?

I wasn't always in information technology and my previous jobs over the years have ranged greatly from dish washer to meteorologist.  My career in IT has brought to me fun challenges, stable work hours, good money, and many other rewards.  However, I also have to say that the same IT career has brought me more stress and anxiety than any other job I have had in my life. 

If you are in IT, do you feel the same high stress as I do?  Or am I some type of computer geek oddball feeling more stress than I should?  I really want to know! So please, take the latest poll at CMS Report and answer: How stressful is your information technology job?

Mary Jander of Internet Evolution takes a hard look at at what IT must do to survive the next few years of economic woes.  She has some sobering things to say, and while we might not like it, she is probably right.  For example, in her first step to IT surviving she says:

Staff levels must go down. Job cuts are now a fact of IT life. Recent announcements portend 5,000 layoffs at Microsoft; a projected 6,000 at Intel; up to 10,000 at IBM.
Cuts like these could decimate an already-pressed IT staff, unless
measures are taken to automate and virtualize more functions.

The idea of reducing costs in hardware and human resources through virtualization has been suggested before (many times). Now is the time to finally give it a try.

She also takes a look at at telecommuting, going green, Web 2.0, data management, and more.  Be sure to read her post.