profits

Intel introduces 32Gb flash chips

Paul Mah — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:20:02 -0400

Intel is set to produce a 32Gb NAND flash memory that it jointly developed with Micron Technology. Based on a 34-nanometer technology, it is the smallest NAND process geometry on the market and should result in the production of cheaper solid-state drives.

The company's NAND flash profits have been hit hard as a direct result of a recession-related reduction in consumer spending in high-tech devices utilizing flash memory. Intel's CEO Paul Otellini has unveiled a plan to squeeze these higher-density flash chips into enterprise storage arrays to balance up the loss from consumer sales. Shipments of samples are expected to begin in June, with mass production to follow in the second half of 2008.

For more on Intel's 32Gb flash chips:
- check out this Ars Technica article

Starbucks goes outside for a CIO

Thu, 08 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

Starbucks, its stock having plummeted and its comparable store sales plunging, has hired a new CIO, Stephen Gillett, to help in what the iconic Seattle-based coffee chain hopes will be a major revitalization. Gillett, who most recently served as CIO of Corbis, a stock photography and footage company, replaces Bryan Crynes, who left Starbucks in January. The move could be key for Starbucks, which hopes to use IT to better connect with customers, build loyalty and boost sales. One tactic, company officials have said, is to use IT to aggregate and mine its data from customer payment cards, in order to examine buying patterns. The company will use this data to determine how employees can better serve customers and what new products customers will buy. In so doing, Starbucks is betting that the end result of the IT analysis will be more sales and profits.

For more about what's brewing at Starbucks:
- See this CIO Magazine article

Should IT be run like a business?

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

There's no limit to what IT can do, as every CIO knows. But there is also an unfair burden being placed on IT departments these days, to save money that lives outside of their sphere of influence. That might work as long as IT is completely embedded in a company. But IT cannot be the go-to place when business managers are looking to cut costs, especially when this kind of thinking hurts IT's capabilities.

A recent report by AMR Research indicates that IT departments want to spend 9.3 percent more in 2008 to improve their own performance, while companies are planning to increase IT spending by only 5 percent. As any CIO knows, money talks and putting the money into resources pays off tremendously.

Companies have been investing less for the long-term benefits of IT lately and many are redesigning the way their IT departments purchase new technology. And there is considerable pressure to run an IT department as a business, so that it doesn't take a big bite out of the overall budget. Yet cost-cutting in the IT sphere can often be shortsighted with regard to the long-term health of the business, making internal operations less efficient and hurting external customer needs. In the end, greater IT investments may mean greater productivity, better functioning systems and eventually, more cost savings and higher profits.-Judi

Shame on you, Google

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

It's not much of a stretch to call Google one of the most trusted companies in tech. Unlike Microsoft, any wireless carrier or virtually any hardware vendor, consumers tend to trust Google and their "do no evil" motto. The company is generally seen as working for the good of the average netizen while pursuing profits, rather than doing whatever it takes to make a buck.

Now, most of that is probably true. Given their public actions during the last few years, it really does seem like Google generally tries to avoid doing anything "evil" in their quest to catalog all of the world's information (I'll leave it to you, reader, to decide whether or not that aim is inherently evil). But as you'll see in today's issue, the company has crossed a line this week. You might not know it yet but Google has covertly declared war on your IT department.

The company's latest enterprise product, Google Apps Team Edition, is essentially a clone of the enterprise version of Google Apps with one key difference: it doesn't require the IT department's blessing in order to be deployed. The application package can be set up, run and administered entirely by users, without the IT department's knowledge. And what happens when the IT department eventually stumbles upon the fact that users are using unsanctioned collaboration software? Why, they can simply purchase a real version of Google Apps and roll it out to the entire company. How convenient!

So, why is Google doing this? Just to annoy IT departments far and wide, most of whom are already up to their necks in self-proclaimed "power users" running unapproved software? Though it might seem that way, the real answer is far less vexing. Quite simply, Google wants to sell its software. And for all the hype you've heard about Google Apps being an "Office killer," the fact of the matter is that most enterprises are still years away from moving their mission-critical apps onto the web--leave alone trusting their confidential documents to an external server.

If you ask me, the time for Google Apps (and other web-based applications, for that matter) in the enterprise has not yet come. What Google should do is continue working on the suite, making it more and more attractive to IT departments and enterprises with each iteration. Instead, they're resorting to sneaky tactics in order to get their apps into the hands of business users. While the users might appreciate that, such tactics are not going to endear Google to anyone in IT. It seems to me that Google has failed to understand one of the tech world's most universal rules: if you want to get into the enterprise, you have to go thorough IT first. -Mehan

How to spot a bad CIO

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal said that it's often easy to spot problems in the IT department after the fact and "once the damage is done." There are plenty of signs at that point--strategies fail, profits drop or the company faces the scrutiny of regulators. But there are ways to head off disaster. Here are some indicators that may be advance signals of impending problems:

High employee turnover.
Rehashing the same ideas, projects and technologies.
Firing existing employees and replacing them with people who've worked for him/her in the past.

For more on the bad CIO:
- See this CIO Magazine article

Tech skills lose steam

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

In a surprising twist, a new report says that pay premiums for noncertified skills are now exceeding the average salary paid for certified tech skills. Research firm Foote Partners' studied the pay scales of certified and non-certified tech professionals in the third quarter of 2007. Non-certified skills on average received a premium of 8.08 percent of base pay based on an analysis of 156 non-certified skills. Certified skills on average received an average premium of 7.97 percent of base pay, based on an analysis of 159 certified skills. While the pay gap is only about 0.1 percent, "that's a huge difference in the world of pay stats," said David Foote, CEO and chief research officer and co-founder of Foote Partners. One of the reasons for this change is that many companies are emphasizing using IT to help create new products, generating more profits and improving customer service. That has translated into IT jobs requiring a bigger mix of technology skills along with business skills. Over the last two years or so, the emphasis at many companies is swinging towards using IT for helping to create new products, generating more profit and sales, improving customer service and relationships, Foote said. Let us know what is happening at your company and others that you see. Are pure tech skills losing out to a broader range of talents?

For more on salaries:
- see this InformationWeek article

ALSO NOTED: Indian outsourcing continues to grow despite weaker dollar; R&D spending in Europe increases;

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 06:59:58 -0400

> Indian outsourcing continues to grow despite weaker dollar. Article

> R&D spending in Europe increases. Article

> Alignment still a priority for CIOs. Article

> Microsoft's Steve Ballmer on advertising and SAAS. Article

> Dell sees profits in green computing. Article

And finally... former Microsoft techie puts time and money into building schools and libraries in developing countries. Article

Acquisitions driving big software growth

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Software companies that grew more than 20 percent last year were, for the most part, driven by merger and acquisition activity, a recent Baseline survey shows. The acquisition trend is putting more control, and power, into the hands of a few relatively well-known companies. To some extent, this trend is being dictated by the software industry's customers, as CIOs look to consolidate their vendor base. Baseline's survey amounts to a health check on the enterprise software industry and according to the results, most software companies are in pretty good shape. The 49 largest had $110 billion in revenue in 2006, 13 percent above their 2005 levels. Meanwhile, the median company grew 11 percent. Aggregate profit at the 49 biggest software companies last year was $22.4 billion, for a profit margin of 20 percent. Profitability was concentrated in the three biggest companies, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. Microsoft accounted for 40 percent of the revenue and 56 percent of the profits among the companies considered.

For the full survey results:
- see the report from Baseline

Implementation+ Innovation= Success

Sun, 06 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

New IT-driven business model innovations can only occur when organizations achieve the right balance between the CIO's two key roles: one as Chief Innovation Officer and the other as Chief Implementation Officer. Both innovation and implementation lenses are required to achieve growth and profits. To gauge your company's readiness, ask yourself these questions: What proportion of management attention should be devoted to IT's role in innovation versus implementation? What should be done to re-balance IT competencies and skills for shaping future business strategies versus IT's traditional operational competencies? What is the role of external IT alliances, partners and vendors in this new environment of growth and innovation? How can you best organize the IT function to ensure balanced attention to future opportunities versus current operations? What portfolio of performance indicators are needed to balance IT's contribution to future versus present?

Read more about innovation and implementation:
- read the article at Silicon

ALSO:
- read this on why innovation starts with a better business model
- this on why you shouldn't stifle innovation
- and this on what innovation is really all about

ALSO NOTED: Showing appreciation has many payoffs; The IT workforce needs to work on non-tech skills;

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Praising people for a job well done may lead to bigger profits. Article

> The IT workforce needs to buff up its non-technical skills. Article

> Monitoring employees' Internet and telephone use at work may contravene human rights laws. Article

> Application maintenance is a challenge for SMBs. Article

> Mind your manners when social networking. Article

> Oracle update will fix 37 security flaws. Article

And Finally… How much would data theft cost you? Calculator