Tips for Innovating in Hard Times
Right now, while other companies are cutting IT budgets and initiatives, it's the perfect time for companies to establish the innovative products and processes that will carry them into the future.
1. FIRST, FIND THE MONEY The CIOs at 3M, Dollar Rent A Car, FedEx and TruServ have all cut back on user services - including maintenance, upgrades and new applications for internal customers - in order to continue to innovate with flat budgets. "If we reduce the amount of time we spend on maintenance, that will give us more resources for development," says TruServ senior vice president and CIO Neil Hastie. Another way to find the cash is to improve your processes. Companies can get cocky in good times and let important processes, such as application maintenance and involving the business side in software development, slide. When the financial belt tightens, so should internal processes.
2. THEN, GET CEO BUY-IN Senior-level buy-in is critical, especially if a CIO has to cut basic services such as user support in order to remain innovative. If that buy-in isn't part of the corporate culture, a CIO must fight for it.
Chris Curran, managing director for technology innovation at Chicago-based consultancy DiamondCluster International, says CIOs might have to work through layers of management to get the chance to bend a CEO's ear. "If the CEO isn't providing support, the next best thing is to get his direct reports to tell him how wonderful [new technology] is," Curran says. "CIOs should dialogue with business lieutenants in the company." CIOs don't need to hit sixes early in the innings, either. Singles and twos will work fine when the goal is to win the attention of department managers and vice presidents. Curran suggests setting up prototypes for small projects. Detailing a long, expensive project - no matter how innovative - might scare off lower-level business leaders and CEOs alike.
3. FINALLY, PRIORITISE The most important step a company can take in a downturn is to separate necessary projects from those that were just hanging around because once upon a time there was money to fund them. Whether it's trimming user support or buying less hardware, cutting the fat from an IT department is the best way to survive a downturn while still being able to innovate.
"I'd rather live in good times and have a big budget," says 3M vice president of IT David Drew. "But a lot of times we make the most progress when things are tighter. It forces you to focus. It forces you to eliminate things you probably shouldn't be doing. I don't wish for these times, but it isn't all a bad experience."
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services. - White PaperView this webcast and discover the drivers for changing network design practices, why many organisations are changing their approach to network architecture and how enterprises should be moving forward with open architecture multi-vendor network solutions. Register now and learn how your business can maximize the business value of the enterprise network.
- White PaperJoin industry expert Martin Tuip to discover best practice strategy for the archival and removal of .PST files using email archiving. Learn how to ensure long-term email records are there when needed, and reduce the risk to your business and clients.
- White PaperJoin industry expert Bob Spurzem and Chuck Arconi of Fox Hollow to discover how to reduce Exchange total storage and keep it at a manageable level. Learn how Exchange storage growth can be contained without sacrificing security and accessibility.
Discover how SOA can create smarter outcomes for your business.
Attend and learn:
- How SOA is helping leading companies to become more agile
- Where you should be applying SOA processes in your company
- The top SOA implementation mistakes to avoid
Click here for more 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. - +
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.
- +
Chris Hoff on Virtualization and Cloud Computing 20 November, 2008 10:55:00
Chris Hoff, chief security architect for the systems and technology division at Unisys and an advisor on the Skybox Security customer advisory board, is one of the biggest critics of virtualization security out there. Not because it isn't important - but rather because it is vital and needs to mature rapidly. - +
Cybersecurity is focus of new start-up incubator 20 November, 2008 07:19:00
Texas uni announces the Institute for Cyber Security.The University of Texas at San Antonio Tuesday announced a technology incubator aimed at fostering IT security-based start-ups within the state. - +
Dilip Sarangan on Physical Security M&A 20 November, 2008 11:18:00
Dilip Sarangan tracks physical security companies for Frost & Sullivan. He expects the industry's "need to have" products to weather the economic storm well, with the big players (now including IBM and Cisco) looking for value-priced acquisitions. - +
International Challenges in PCI Security 20 November, 2008 09:15:00
In a country that's seen many regulatory compliance challenges this decade, the headaches of PCI security tend to be analyzed from a largely American perspective. - +
PCI council sharpens oversight of security auditors 19 November, 2008 10:53:00
Quality assurance plan targets security assessors and scanning vendorsThe PCI Security Standards Council Monday unveiled a plan to sharpen oversight of the hundreds of security-service providers now authorized to evaluate merchant networks under the organization's Payment Card Industry data standards.
Vignette Announces 2008 Excellence Awards 21 November, 2008 10:50:00
PGP and Ponemon Institute Unveil Inaugural Australian Data Breach Study 2008 20 November, 2008 17:34:00
Symantec Cloud Services Transform Data Centre Operations Through Proactive Management 20 November, 2008 12:06:00
Verizon Business Offers Tips to Building a Successful Unified Communications and Collaboration Plan 20 November, 2008 12:04:00
AARNet Brings 4K Digital Cinema to Australia: First 4K HD Video Signal delivered into Australia by AARNet 20 November, 2008 12:02:00
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
|
CRM your salespeople will love
Winning over the sales department and obtaining buy-in at all levels is crucial to the success of any CRM initiative. Discover how you can let salespeople work how they want to and reduce their administrative burden with the latest CRM technology.
Buying Guides
Latest Products
Buying Guides
