Hey, Partner

Food, water, shelter. Monitors, servers, network cables. Hey, the basic necessities are different for everyone after Katrina's onslaught. For Freddie Manint, the chief information officer for Louisiana's court system, assistance means getting the electronic guts of the operation back up to speed.

14494701.jpgHence his plea in a blog entry on Information Week's Web site for professional technology services, hardware and software for the devastated region. The first concern following the hurricane was people. And rightly so. But much of the electronic infrastructure also lies in ruins.

Information technology companies are always talking about wanting to be  "partners" with governments rather than cold, impersonal "vendors." Well, partners come through in tough times.

If ever there was a time to be a buddy...