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  • Think Tank: Tips for IT strategic planning success

    We all know that we need to get more value from information technology investments. That means IT projects, portfolios and priorities must be aligned to those of the business. IT strategic planning is often used as a tool to achieve this alignment and turn the business needs into results. But it is often not that easy! Many organisations develop a strategic plan but successful implementation is still difficult. Like in golf or chess, rules are well known but consistent performance is still hard.

    Written by Hemant Kogekar • 23 April 11 08:00
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    Total cost of ownership is only part of the SaaS picture

    For me TCO is only part of the picture, using this measure in isolation can lead you to make suboptimal purchasing decisions. This is written with my experience of Salesforce front of mind, however this can apply to most SaaS providers.

    Written by Andy Pattinson • 14 April 11 15:54
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    The true cost of IT

    Thanks to its increasing intertwining with business processes, IT is becoming more complex and costly to manage. The complexity is due in part to the natural evolution of the business’s dependence on IT, and to the piecemeal and sometimes divergent nature of demands on IT. Whatever the cause, complexity begets ambiguity and is therefore undesirable

    Written by Sukalp Sharma • 30 March 11 17:46

  • Public sector still challenged by ICT 'silver bullets'

    Recent experience is showing us that investing in an ICT initiative is one of the highest risk activities the public sector could be involved with. It is surely the case when headlines like ‘millions wasted’, ‘years late’, and ‘minister resigns’ becomes the public’s corporate memory of a complex ICT project. So why does the public sector keep looking for ‘silver bullet’ ICT solutions when the available evidence shows continued under-performance, under-scoping and under-estimation of complexity and risk?

    Written by Paul O'Connor • 15 Dec. 10 09:00

  • Contract negotiation checkpoints

    I always encourage clients to negotiate a client-supplier business contract, particularly if the parties will have an ongoing relationship. Business executives sometimes seem to shy away from negotiations. Some think a negotiation is a confrontation that will harm the relationship. Others think it’s simply better to get on with the business and only worry about things when they go wrong.

    Written by Victor Konijn • 28 June 10 12:12
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    Think Tank: Beyond service management

    Most IT service organisations have adopted ITIL or similar service management disciplines. Service management requires new processes for users. Service is provided only after a service request is raised, new initiatives need a business justification, service level agreements need to be in place, and the list goes on. Any experienced IT manager knows that certain disciples are necessary to be able to deliver reliable and cost effective IT service.

    Written by Hemant Kogekar • 22 June 10 10:48

  • How to Improve IT Performance and Deploy Technology Faster

    When the CEO wants to reduce IT costs while increasing how much technology the company has, the CIO is squeezed. She is stuck supporting existing systems while needing to spend money to evaluate and implement new technologies. No one is happy when there is a wide gap between where the money is being spent and where you'd like it to be.

    Written by Adam Hartung • 30 April 10 05:17
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    Cloud exposes the true cost of IT

    If they haven't already done so, it won't be long before most CIOs will be undertaking analysis of the potential financial benefits to their organizations of adopting a cloud computing strategy. You might think the discussion on cloud will focus on security and performance, but from first-hand experience the discussion will very quickly focus on the financials and the total cost of ownership.

    Written by Scott Stewart • 06 April 10 09:44

  • The number cruncher's guide to delivering IT value

    I'm a qualified accountant. I even sometimes read the Accountants Journal - there, I've said it!

    Written by Owen McCall • 11 March 10 08:14

  • Think Tank: Unlocking value from the applications portfolio

    Within the IT Assets portfolio, managing application assets has the greatest potential benefit. Here’s how to reap maximum rewards from Applications Portfolio Management.

    Written by Hemant Kogekar • 03 Aug. 09 08:50

  • Vendor management: How to negotiate contracts

    Businesses buy computer-related goods and services all the time. Just to name a few examples, they buy consultants and technicians' time, custom programming, software and hardware. The way the parties usually handle the paperwork is that the vendor gives the customer their form and the customer signs it. After all, the form is printed so it can't be changed. Wrong!

    Written by Mark Grossman • 05 Jan. 09 12:52

  • Top 10 qualities of a great IT shop

    No two IT shops conduct business in the same way: CIOs report to various executives, project approval processes are all over the board, and personnel policies are vastly different. Unlike other professions, IT doesn't seem to have a common set of basic principles across companies.

    Written by Paul M. Ingevaldson • 23 Dec. 08 08:01

  • Fear: The Great De-motivator

    With the job market tanking, vendors laying off staff, and IT departments cutting contractors, employees and projects, IT managers, at best, are going to be under a lot of pressure to improve productivity.

    Written by Paul Glen • 02 Dec. 08 11:47

  • Leaning on the IT Department

    Looking good in business is never a matter of fashion.

    Written by David Gee • 17 Nov. 08 10:30

  • Who's Getting ROI from Cloud Computing Now

    Recently the SDForum, a Silicon Valley-based technology and business incubator, hosted an all-day Cloud Computing Symposium. If the presenters at the Symposium are to be believed, cloud computing represents an infrastructure revolution, moving infrastructure use from a capital expense to an operational expense and cutting the overall cost by at least 90 percent.

    Written by Bernard Golden • 20 Oct. 08 14:44

  • 5 Reasons Why a Developer Might Want to Become a CIO

    The CIO job comes with lots of money and lots of perks. But would a software developer ever be willing to cash in his integrity and passion for programming to become a corporate wonk? Here are five compelling reasons why developers might do so.

    Written by Meridith Levinson • 05 Aug. 08 14:16

  • 8 Reasons Why a Developer Would NEVER Want To Be a CIO

    1. Software developers live to write code.

    Written by Meridith Levinson • 05 Aug. 08 14:14

  • App Developers Say Their CIOs Are Clueless

    As CIO you hold one of the most critical executive positions in your organization. And, to lead successfully, you must earn the respect of both the business and your information technology organization. But earning the respect of application development professionals is no easy task: The CIO position has been a revolving door as of late and many application development professionals have become cynical. Go figure.

    Written by Mike Gualtieri • 15 July 08 14:03

  • The ROI of green IT

    There's no question that some companies pursue green solutions because it's the right thing to do. But plenty of them also do it for the cost savings.

    Written by Ted Samson • 28 March 08 11:05

  • Fluid Dynamics

    Conventional management thinking evolved to handle a business environment of relatively predictable change and competition. During the past decade, though, this stability has been supplanted by accelerating change in business and technology, causing the traditional notions of strategy and tactics to be less effective

    Written by Andy Rowsell-Jones • 02 Oct. 07 09:57
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