corporate executives

Questions to ask your outsourcing vendors

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 06:59:57 -0400

Recent toy recalls might be making corporate executives a bit nervous about their outsourcing agreements. Mark Cioni, president of Mv Cioni Associates, a company that helps global businesses improve their outsourcing decisions, says there are a number of areas that CIOs should focus on in order to mitigate problems. First off, he says that CIOs and other executives should ask questions like: what has the provider done to help their client recover from that deviation, and what steps do they take to minimize its repetition? "If a provider says they've never had to recover from a failure, I suggest you consider the possibility they're either being less than truthful (if they're trying to be a best in class provider) or less than innovative (if they're trying to be a truly differentiated provider)," he writes in CIOUpdate. Secondly, he says that CIOs should understand the level of visibility you will have into the provider's processes. Finally, he suggests talking to your outsourcing providers as part of planning how to best prevent service failures and recover from such failures resiliently. "Although the necessity of having such a plan is fairly obvious, we too often see examples of poor planning and/or poor execution."

For all the details on how best to manage your outsourcing relationships:
- read the article in CIOUpdate

Survey: CIOs, IT managers differ on spending views

Mon, 21 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

A new survey from business service management platform provider Managed Objects found that while 42 percent of IT managers believe that their IT departments are spending too little on IT, only 29 percent of senior executives felt the same way. Twelve percent of senior executives believe too much is spent on IT, while 5 percent of IT managers feel that way. Among the largest companies, respondents in both categories felt that spending was either "about right" or "too little", with only 4 percent saying too much was being spent. Among companies with more than $10 billion in sales, 68 percent claimed that spending was about right. The survey polled 200 U.S. senior corporate executives and IT managers.

Read more survey results:
- read the article at eChannelLine

Survey: Execs, IT managers don't always agree

Wed, 25 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

According to a survey of 176 corporate executives and 351 IT managers by Harris Interactive for SunGard Data Systems, most IT managers consider disaster recovery and business continuity important or crucial to a business, compared with just under half of business executives. The survey also found that 66 percent of IT managers consider uninterrupted information availability a major priority, compared with 54 percent of business executives. About 43 percent of IT executives blame budget constraints for inadequate disaster recovery systems while only 26 percent of their business counterparts believe disaster recovery costs are prohibitive. Half of business executives listed ERP as a key corporate application compared with 29 percent of IT managers. Both groups agreed that email, back-office applications, customer service and telecommunications are key corporate priorities that would impact an organization's bottom line if shut down.

Read more survey results:
- read the article at ComputerWorld

BPM: A window into business performance

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Corporate executives have a habit of wanting to know, at a glance, how their companies are performing in various areas. In today's competitive environment, Excel spreadsheets don't do the trick anymore--they are far too simplistic and don't provide information in real-time. For many companies, the answer is business performance management (BPM). This software, from companies like Business Objects, Hyperion, Cognos, Oracle and SAP, makes sense of relevant data about customers, competitors, internal operations and the marketplace--providing executives with the information they need to make the right decisions. Core processes include modeling, analysis and monitoring of key performance indicators, and links to organizational strategy. To drive BPM across your organization, it's important to work from the top down as well as the bottom up, and be able to guarantee all stakeholders that the integrity of the data and reporting systems will be preserved.

Learn more about BPM:
- read the article at CIO Decisions

ALSO:
- read this about focusing on neglected areas using BPM
- and this on why IT must lead the BPM charge

C&L: Some leadership must-reads

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:01:31 -0400

On the heels of my editor's note last week about the wrong way to conduct layoffs comes a review of a new book tech leaders and corporate executives may deem worthy of reading. In The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences, author Louis Uchitelle details the short- and long-term impact of layoffs on employees and why companies need to change today's strategy of cutting jobs the minute the revenue stream takes a dip.

For IT leaders aiming to take on a CIO role, Straight to the Top: Becoming a World-Class CIO by World Wildlife Fund CIO Gregory Smith is also worth taking a look at. Smith does a compelling job in providing real-life, real-world anecdotes and advice related to taking on the tech leadership role.

...

The CIO at JP Morgan Chase & Co., Austin Adams, has announced his retirement.

Florence Chang has been named VP and CIO at MultiCare Health System.

EU antitrust battle may delay Vista

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Microsoft's continuing antitrust battle with the European Union could end up delaying or impacting the future of its newest operating system, Vista, which has great potential to become the next object of scrutiny. According to experts and analysis closely following the legal action, the continuing legal storm may also impact Microsoft's product innovation and business. It's now a huge distraction for corporate executives.

For more on the antitrust ruling ramifications:
- read this article at News.com

Lessons gleamed from stupid user tricks

Sun, 16 Apr 2006 20:01:36 -0400

Every CIO and tech leader has a dumb user story--a gem he likes to share at networking events and at lunch with colleagues. Sure, they're entertaining, but they can also be great fodder for learning without going through the pain. A collection of stupid user tricks is valuable for both the chuckles it produces and the valuable insight gained by those who suffered through the event. Find out how one tech leader's network backup plan looked great on paper but ran out of fuel and caused more issues than a natural disaster. Also, learn how one tech leader mapped out a strategy for keeping corporate executives from knocking out the company's network.

For more on user stories and lessons learned:
- read this article at InfoWorld

Business leaders favor increased IT spend

Mon, 27 Mar 2006 19:01:39 -0500

Good news came this week for IT leaders--it seems that a good portion of top corporate executives don't believe enough is being spent on IT. While 44 percent of those polled by Managed Objects, a business service management firm, say tech spending is right on target, 46 percent of U.S. executives say more should be allocated. The remaining 10 percent feel too much is being spent and if they had their druthers they'd reduce IT down in manpower and downtime.

For more on the IT spend survey:
- read this TechWeb article

Editor's Corner

Thu, 23 Feb 2006 19:01:40 -0500

Thank goodness it's Friday and that school spring break is ending. Typically the February break is one of snow, keeping the kids outside and keeping things quiet in the house. But the snow came and went a few weeks ago and so it's been a little noisier than usual around the home office. To treat myself to a little relaxation time I went hunting around some good tabloids to catch up on my reading and found two great pieces I want to share this week. The first is a BusinessWeek article that touches a topic I think every IT leader is focused on these days--innovation. The thing is, innovation is a tough ideal to define and it can mean different things to different corporate executives. As the article indicates, before you go out and grab up some hired hands to help churn out some 'innovative' programs and services, you need to take a long look at your corporate culture and your actual business needs. Otherwise that consulting investment will never pay off.

The second article of interest this week, which comes from News.com, is shorter and a bit pithier. While we're always touting and boasting that technology makes business stronger and workers more productive, it seems it can also get in the way of productivity at times. A new study from Day-Timers, an organizational product vendor, reports that US workers don't feel they're accomplishing as much as they used to or have enough time to do their work these days. And technology is apparently at fault since it allows us to multitask and tackle more than a few things at once. The problem is that while we're touching more bases, we're not making full runs around the diamond, leading to the feeling that we aren't getting as much accomplished as we used to. It presents some good reasons for turning off email and the phone for a few hours a day to get out of touch and back in sync with attaining results. - Judy

Corporate exec tool boosts the business

Thu, 09 Feb 2006 19:01:36 -0500

A Web-based dashboard tool lets corporate executives plan, strategize, stay up to date and continuously communicate to the business. No wonder it's gaining ground and popularity among the big players. Research pundits estimate that just about 2,000 of the largest businesses have deployed such tools to the corporate office. They're taking root and being tweaked and massaged to provide in-depth data and analysis. That perspective is actually also having an impact on the management style and strategy of today's big guns.

For more on Web tools making a difference in business:
- read this BusinessWeek article