Saturday | 30 August, 2008
CIO
BlackBerry is a Handheld Dilemma for CIOs
The way organisations introduce new technologies is changing from an instinct-based approach to a choice based on business value, argues Nigel Hughes
Nigel Hughes (CIO (UK)) 30 April, 2008 08:02:34
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Software Applications

  • High strategic value, low operational impact. This category includes data warehousing applications such as customer marketing databases. Introducing innovation to these areas is attractive, given the significant potential upside and low cost of failure. These applications have relatively few users, but they are engaged in high-value activities such as business strategy and change.

  • High strategic value, high operational impact. These are mission- critical applications such as the billing functions of a mobile phone operator, a bank's ATM network, or the check-in systems of an airline. They are likely have the highest profile in the organisation and innovation can be rewarding. However, uncontrolled innovation in these areas is usually risky. For example, a credit card issuer will not upgrade its payment approval system without lengthy testing. The cost of innovation will therefore be that much higher.

  • Low strategic value, high operational impact. Examples include payroll, or even general ledger systems. Innovation in these applications will also be carefully scrutinised for risk, and the benefits are likely to be cost reduction rather than increased revenue. For many organisations, this application category is an ideal candidate for commodity software packages, so that the cost of keeping software both up-to-date and reliable can be amortised across the installed base of the software vendor.

  • Low strategic value, low operational impact. These applications might be departmental databases set up for teams of five or fewer, or ancient applications which are still in operation but are no longer relied upon. They provide little value on either scale. Often the most innovative thing to do with these applications is to ditch them as soon as possible.

    Portfolio alignment helps the business to set priorities and plan investments in innovative technologies that will deliver value and increase the productivity gains of existing systems. Used correctly, it becomes a powerful management tool for leveraging the potential productivity benefits of IT and addressing the spiraling demand for IT resources that has been such a feature of the last decade.

    Who knows, with the right measures, it may even provide a framework for assessing who in the organisation really needs that latest batch of BlackBerries.

    By defining the relative importance of each application in terms of strategic value and operational impact, management attention can be focused on areas where it will deliver most value. Because portfolio alignment assesses the IT estate against business priorities, it can help to control demand, decommission redundant systems, and plan investments in innovative technologies that will deliver value and increase productivity gains from existing systems.

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    Computerworld Webinar | Learn how to deliver value to your business through IT Service Management | 4th Sept 11am
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    2008 CIO Summit

    19th August, 2008 Four Seasons Hotel, Sydney Developed in partnership with CIO Magazine, IDC, INTEP and the CIO Executive Council.

    The world of the CIO is extremely complex and diverse. Multiple priorities demand attention and decisions are needed instantly. Individual teams need to be driven towards common goals, and businesses strive to become more mobile, agile and responsive. For CIOs, the challenge never ends.

    Every year the CIO Summit identifies what is top of mind for CIOs across Australia and New Zealand, and offers insight for CIO benchmarking and vendor strategic planning alike.

    Recent IDC research shows that over 59% of CIO's believe that 'to achieve their business strategies, technology should be used more aggressively than today.'

    Join us on August 19th to discover how this is possible with the latest technologies including Virtualisation, Web 2.0, IP Surveillance and Software as a Service (Saas).

    Click here for registration.

    Click here for more information.

    Please email Denyse_Robertson@idg.com.au for further information.

    • +

      CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II 05 October, 2007 06:00:00

      For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
      [ MP3 (7.32 MB) | Windows Media (5.67 MB) ]
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      CIO Live Podcast #78: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires 28 September, 2007 17:34:25

      For his new book, The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires, social researcher Brent D Taylor spent four years of intensive research investigating the psychological make-up and backgrounds of some of the world's richest men and women, including IT luminaries Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs. Taylor discovered that, despite working in different industries and coming from different upbringings, they all have one thing in common -- they are all outsiders.
      [ MP3 (7.56 MB) | Windows Media (5.14 MB) ]
    • +

      CIO Live Podcast #77: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part III 21 September, 2007 07:00:00

      Part three in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
      [ MP3 (4.90 MB) | Windows Media (4.40 MB) ]
    • +

      CIO Live Podcast #76: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part II 14 September, 2007 07:00:00

      Part two in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
      [ MP3 (5.89 MB) | Windows Media (4.84 MB) ]
    • +

      CIO Live Podcast #75: Panasonic Speeds Up Trans-Pacific File Transfers, Part I 07 September, 2007 07:00:05

      Part one in our three-part special report from CIO's sister publication Network World in the US, as Paul Desmond reports from the Network World IT Roadmap Conference in Santa Clara, California. With development teams in the US and Japan, Panasonic needed a more efficient way to move very large files between the two locations. Iben Rodriguez, IT consultant for Panasonic Research and Development, explains how a storage-area network and virtual server technology helped speed up WAN performance.
      [ MP3 (6.41 MB) | Windows Media (5.13 MB) ]
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      Best Western forced to play defense on data breach disclosure 29 August, 2008 08:08:00

      Could hotel chain have done a better job of defusing story about system intrusion?
      The headline in this week's Glasgow Sunday Herald -- "Revealed: 8 million victims in the world's biggest cyber heist" -- was a grabber.
    • +

      US Terror threat system crippled by technical flaws 28 August, 2008 09:53:00

      US Congress charges that US$500m project to prevent another 9/11 is a complete failure.
      A US House subcommittee is charging that a US$500 million IT project intended to "connect the dots" on terrorists and help prevent another 9/11 is a failure; it can't even handle basic Boolean search terms, such as "and, or and not."
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      Malware infects space station laptops 28 August, 2008 08:15:00

      Not the first time, says NASA; astronauts load up Norton AntiVirus
      Malware has managed to get off the planet and onto the International Space Station, NASA confirmed yesterday. And it's not the first time that a worm or virus has stowed away on a trip into orbit.
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      Separation of duties and IT security 28 August, 2008 09:40:00

      Muddied responsibilities create unwanted risk. Kevin Coleman says auditors may start labeling poorly defined IT duties as a material deficiency.
      Separation of duties is a key concept of internal controls and is the most difficult and sometimes the most costly one to achieve. This objective is achieved by disseminating the tasks and associated privileges for a specific security process among multiple people.
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      How to recruit and retain the best young security employees 27 August, 2008 08:32:00

      Today's youngest generation of workers, known as Generation Y, have different career goals than their parents did. What do you need to know to get them to work for you?
      The final installment in a series of articles about generational differences and security. Part one looked at managing workers in different age groups. Part two examined the types of security concerns that are most commonly associated with different generations in the general workforce. This article provides recruiting and retention advice for security employees.
    CIO Webcast Innovation #8 - What are the biggest roadblocks to IT's involvement in innovation at your company?
    Watch the latest latest edition of CIO Innovation which is now available for download.
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    CIO Live Podcast #79: Brent D Taylor, author of The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires Part II
    Listen to the latest edition of CIO Live which is now available for download.
    Listen to the podcast
    Sign up to the CIO Live email
    Get a job Careerone
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