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Process Trip 04 February, 2008 13:07:03
Why Maritz Travel revamped key business processes — and how business and IT came together to make it workWhen Rich Phillips became COO OF Maritz Travel about two and-a-half years ago, he sat down and took a hard look at the big industry picture - +
Ticked Off at Tick the Box Mentality 04 February, 2008 13:01:15
Does your executive search firm know the difference between an MIS manager and a CIO, and if it does, can it explain that difference to its corporate clients?Does your executive search firm know its MIS managers from its elbow? Does it even know the difference between an MIS manager and a CIO, and if it does, can it explain that difference to its corporate clients? - +
How to Get Real About Strategic Planning 04 February, 2008 12:50:59
Everyone agrees that having a strategic plan for IT is a good thing but most CIOs approach the process with fear and loathing. In fact, the majority of CIOs (and the enterprises they work for) are faking it when it comes to strategic planning. Isn't it time we all got real?Oh, it must be nice to be the CIO of a FedEx or a GE or a Credit Suisse. Places where IT and the business are so tightly aligned you can barely tell the two apart. Where corporate leaders understand that IT is a strategic asset and support it as such - +
Toxic Mix or Bit of a Mixed Blessing? 31 December, 2007 10:36:30
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog . . . ” The inter-generational office brew of Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y may not be quite as odious as that of the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but even so it makes “for a charm of powerful trouble”"Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog . . . " The inter-generational office brew of Boomer, Gen X and Gen Y may not be quite as odious as that of the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth, but even so it makes "for a charm of powerful trouble" - +
Strategies for Dealing With IT Complexity 24 December, 2007 10:30:47
Every innovation, every business process improvement, comes with an IT complexity tax that must be paid by CIOs in time, money and sweat. Here are strategies to mitigate the increasing complexity of IT as it enables new business.Every innovation, every business process improvement, comes with an IT complexity tax that must be paid by CIOs in time, money and sweat. Here are strategies to mitigate the increasing complexity of IT as it enables new business.
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Bill Gates: A New Approach to Capitalism in the 21st Century 28 January, 2008 07:12:19
Transcript of Gates speech, and a Q&A at World Economic Forum in Davos, SwitzerlandAs you all may know, in July I'll make a big career change. I'm not worried; I believe I'm still marketable. I'm a self-starter, I'm proficient in Microsoft Office. I guess that's it. Also I'm learning how to give money away. - +
VOIP veteran shares lessons learned 03 November, 2007 06:10:47
After some growing pains, Hitachi Consulting sees VoIP benefits pile upWhen you've lived with VOIP for more than seven years, as Mike Shisko has, you learn a thing or two about what works and what doesn't. Inadequate prioritization techniques can derail a deployment, for example. So can choosing the wrong security gear. Despite some setbacks, the director of IT for Hitachi Consulting wouldn't do voice any other way. - +
What does it take to manage virtual servers? 03 November, 2007 05:00:32
Virtualization demands IT managers take a closer look at management processes, toolsVirtualization can help IT managers allocate more resources with less hardware, but not without introducing a slew of management challenges. - +
A second life for 'Second Life' with open source? 03 November, 2007 03:22:09
Virtual world hype trumps open source hype, so little virtual ink has gone into discussing the open source initiative that Linden Lab, the company behind the virtual world, established to further its development.Until recently, the business news media fawned over the Second Life online virtual world. Stories fixated on Second Life "residents" who got rich brokering virtual real estate, or on the numerous corporations and consumer brands rushing to claim their presence within it (by building virtual kiosk centers or "islands"). Virtual world hype trumps open source hype, so little virtual ink has gone into discussing the open source initiative that Linden Lab, the company behind the virtual world, established to further its development. - +
Microsoft's Ferguson talks about Oslo, SOA 02 November, 2007 10:48:54
Don Ferguson was a fellow at IBM who, in a rare move, left the company. In an interview, he explains his move and what he's up to at his new home, MicrosoftDon Ferguson bears what may be a unique distinction. He has the held lofty title of "Fellow," a title associated with being a distinguished technologist, at not only IBM but Microsoft as well. Last year, Ferguson left IBM, where he had participated in development of the company's WebSphere middleware platform, to come to Microsoft. He is a technical fellow in the Microsoft Office of the CTO. InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill met with Ferguson at the Microsoft SOA and Business Process in Washington this week to talk about Microsoft, including the company's new Oslo modeling and services project, and IBM.
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"There's so much change management embedded in outsourcing processes to prevent them from missing an SLA, their ability to innovate to support our business is very limited," agrees Robert Fecteau, CIO of BAE Systems Information Technology, a line of business within the UK-based BAE Systems. Fecteau was hired in 2005 to oversee the backsourcing of US IT services previously outsourced by its parent company in a $US2.2 billion, six-year IT contract with CSC. (The rest of BAE Systems will continue to work with CSC as "a trusted partner critical to our success", says Fecteau.) According to Fecteau, BAE's outsourcing had been driven by a desire to cut costs. (In addition to the design, manufacture and maintenance of military vehicles and equipment, BAE Systems provides IT services.) But there were trade-offs.
"It's very difficult to write a contract with an outsourcer that says: 'Give me more innovative IT processes'," says Fecteau, who will complete the backsourcing process during 2008. "They're not there to transform your organization," he continues. "They're there to deliver IT as a commodity." Fecteau should know since BAE Systems is itself in the outsourcing business. "The very nature of outsourcing naturally restricts innovation," he says.
Processes further inhibit the kind of client-vendor interaction that would yield innovative solutions. "I don't think the big outsourcers do well with customer intimacy," says Fecteau. "They're huge, matrixed organizations with revolving doors. You never know who's coming in on a given day."
"We would clearly disagree with any assertions that large outsourcers such as CSC can't bring innovation to outsourcing engagements," says CSC spokesman Mike Dickerson. "In this case, BAE Systems' decision to insource certain operations was based on a long-term strategic objective to grow its computer services business in the [US] federal IT services market, an area in which we obviously compete, and is not a reflection of the services provided by CSC."
If you really want innovation, you can get it, says Fecteau, "but you'll pay for it". Dearly.
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 more information.
Please email Denyse_Robertson@idg.com.au for further information.
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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 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. - +
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. - +
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. - +
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. - +
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.
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New Ways to Approach Security in a Web 2.0 World 08 September, 2008 09:32:00
Web 2.0 technologies have ushered in a new age of security threats. Brian Foster, vice president of product management with Symantec, shares his insight on what you need to do to safeguard your company in today's business environmentBusiness isn't what it used to be. - +
Skills for leading a converged security operation 08 September, 2008 12:30:00
The cultural challenges are significant, and the CSO has to lead the way in learning and changing. We spoke with several converged CSOs for their take on building the necessary skills to hold the job.John had a massive challenge to tackle. A former IT security officer at a large bank in New York, he and his wife packed up and moved across the country so he could take on the role of chief security officer with a well-known provider of loans, retail financing, and other credit related products. - +
Information security governance: Centralized vs. distributed 05 September, 2008 10:15:00
Should security policies, procedures and processes be managed within a central body, or distributed at an individual level? You need to find the middle ground.The management of information risk has become a significant topic for all organizations, small and large alike. But for the large, multi-divisional organization, it poses the additional challenge of determining how to deploy an information security governance program among what are often disparate business units. Should the policies, procedures, and processes that define the program be developed and managed within a central, corporate body? Or perhaps responsibility would be better placed at the individual unit level? Is there a workable middle-ground? - +
DNS error brings Sophos antivirus updates to a halt 05 September, 2008 13:40:00
Optus, Internode and Equinix affected among others.A sporadic Domain Name Server (DNS) error has blocked Sophos anti-virus updates around the world. - +
Ouch! Security pros' worst mistakes 04 September, 2008 08:05:00
We've all done regrettable things on the job, but does any valuable wisdom come of it? Four security pros candidly explain their biggest blunders and what they learned in the processIt was a mistake so bad the person who made it asked that his name and company not be mentioned here. Let's call him Frank.
From Indian roadside selling candles to three Australian Business Awards: OCA Group divisions triumph 08 September, 2008 16:46:00
NetSuite First with Native Support for Google Chrome 08 September, 2008 11:07:00
Frost & Sullivan: Soaring Demand For Hosted Web Conferencing Services 08 September, 2008 08:44:00
Viva la Verticals! Key to Vendor Growth is Through Vertical Market Opportunities, Says IDC 05 September, 2008 11:05:00
F-Secure delivers fastest protection in the online world 04 September, 2008 16:50:00
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The Secrets of C-Suite Success
With help from the CIO Executive Council, we tap into research about successful executives. Read on to learn more about the competencies CIOs need to develop to take the corner office, where CIOs fall short and what CEOs expect from CIOs.
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