No, you can't avoid office politics in IT. Deal with it.
My cheap-o bookshelf is sagging under the weight of numerous IT leadership books: The Real Business of IT, World Class IT, The New CIO Leader, The CIO Edge, and many others.I'll need to add another one: "Unleashing the Power of IT,"...
Six characteristics of effective CIOs
I had a recent chat with Shvetank Shah, executive director of the Corporate Executive Board's IT practice, about the CEB's study of CIO effectiveness.The CEB carefully studied 142 CIOs by looking at how the CIOs spend their time, as...
How one IT chief is building an enterprise 'know-how platform'
know-how n. [Colloq.] knowledge of how to do something well Dickie Oliver is on a mission to build an enterprise "know-how platform" so that 1.6 million employees across 110 countries can do a better job of selling chicken, pizza...
Reflections from Palm Springs
James Dallas, the closing speaker at Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders conference this week, said CIOs need to take time out for reflection. So, heeding this advice, I used my time sitting in the Palm Springs, Calif., airport to...
How to integrate an acquired company -- in just 90 days
It sounds impossibly fast. But Avnet Inc.'s M&A playbook allows it to bring acquired companies into the fold (including IT systems) with "deliberate speed" -- usually within 90 days -- as well as with sensitivity to the human...
Emerging BYOT policies: A cap and wipe system
The evidence from Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Leaders conference is that CIOs are starting to grapple with the policy implications of BYOT (bring your own technology) in the workplace, such as employee-owned iPhones and iPads.The...
10 megatrends affecting corporate IT through 2020
Computerworld's Julia King launched today's agenda for the Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference with a discussion of "five big changes on the horizon" for IT chiefs. The megatrends:The "unstoppable forces" of mobility, cloud computing...
Peer networking 101: Your iPhone or BlackBerry is not your friend
Conference-goers typically say that the No.1 or No.2 reason they go to conferences is for networking with other people. Yet, today, many attendees are heads-down checking their e-mail on a smartphone. Hardly a way to make connections...
The top 10 corporate risks: Can you help reduce 'em?
The Corporate Executive Board's "Risk Integration Strategy Council (RISC)" polls members on a regular basis to identify the top enterprise risks they perceive. The latest, ranked results (pdf) are:Increased competitive pressure...
The five characteristics of a private cloud
We recently published an extensive article on "the bumpy road to the private cloud," which provided a huge amount of information on what a private cloud is, and how to get there (it isn't easy). I recommend taking a look! Here's a...
Simulation model calculates business value of complex IT projects
What if you could assure a high probability that an IT project would really deliver business value, even years down the road? It sounds like the Holy Grail of IT management. But that's the promise of an IT financial model developed...
Six social implications of Facebook Places
As you know, Facebook Places allows smartphone users to "check in" at locations and have that location posted as a status update in Facebook for friends and associates to see. And, unless you disable this "feature," your friends can...
A sneak preview of enterprise IT in 2020
What will the world of IT professionals be like 10 years from now? Computerworld has a special report on that coming up Aug. 23. While I don't want to steal its thunder, I think it's fair to say the special report will suggest...
Association helps accountants warm up to SaaS
Accounting firms can be conservative about trying new technologies -- especially when they're worried about the security of data in the cloud. Recognizing this, the profession's association has essentially endorsed cloud computing...
IDC: Expect IBM, Dell and Oracle to acquire more vendors in 2010
Research firm IDC is out with its 2010 predictions, which you can read here. After IDC's presentation, I talked with chief analyst Frank Gens about the prospects for more consolidation in the IT industry. We've already seen Dell...
Business demand for IT is outstripping the budget
IT budgets and staffing are expected to be nearly flat over the next two years (no surprise), but demand for IT services will increase by more than 17%, according to a new study of 80 global companies by The Hackett Group Inc. That's...
Cloud computing: How to decide 'when to cloud'
Some say cloud computing will become ubiquitous. Others say it's hype and they'd never trust the cloud. Mark Tonsetic, program manager at Corporate Executive Board's Infrastructure Executive Council, says it's not an all-or-nothing...
Time to realign your IT investment portfolio
Every financial investor knows you're supposed to adjust your investment portfolio (stocks? bonds? money market?) when circumstances change, and adjust for risk. Well that's exactly what CIOs should be doing, too, according to The...
Four types of IT project failure
There's a new book to add to my collection of books on IT failure: "Why New Systems Fail," by independent software consultant Phil Simon. The book takes an in-the-trenches approach to identifying ways that "theory and practice...
Airlines working on CRM systems to pamper the elites
U.S. airlines are taking some fledgling steps towards (gasp!) more personalized customer service using CRM systems -- but they're hampered by silos of un-integrated data.That's the message of a recent Wall Street Journal column,...
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