business value

Google and IBM have a cloud deal

Mon, 12 May 2008 06:59:59 -0400

IBM and Google are teaming up to create what they hope will be the primary IT delivery model of the future--cloud computing. In the next year, the two companies intend to make available a network of servers for consumers and businesses to tap everything from online soccer schedules to advanced engineering applications.

The IBM-Google cloud runs on Linux-based machines using Xen virtualization and Apache Hadoop, an open source implementation of the Google File System. The companies see high business value, and their efforts are bound to be attractive to many CIOs. IBM is focusing on small and midsize companies around the world, which it says represent a $500 billion IT market.

Google and IBM could potentially supply business computer users with hosted offerings ranging from word processing software to management and security tools.

To read more about the future:
- see this InformationWeek article

Get hip to IT alignment

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 06:59:58 -0400

IT alignment will save you money if you know what you are doing. But plenty of CIOs don't have a clue what IT alignment really is. Once they get it, they will understand that they can use this technique to strategically build business value. Here's how to make it work:

Develop a written list of the company's strategic business goals.
Plan to redeploy IT.
Audit a completed project.
Get other C-level executives on board to use IT as a strategic catalyst.

For more on using IT alignment:
- See this CIO Magazine article

For more tech stories from the Fierce CIO network:
> Firewire gets faster but not fast enough. Article
> Layoff watch: Symantec. Article
> In Russia, BlackBerry eats you. Article

A year for the tough CIO

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 06:59:56 -0500

No matter where you are in the IT world, it's going to be a tough year for even the toughest CIO. And it's worth looking at other places to see how your colleagues are coping. A new Gartner study in the United Kingdom finds that CIOs expect a 2.5 percent increase in their IT budget this year. But there are plenty of CIOs who expect their budgets will be cut even more. The advice from the experts: Make sure you are ready to provide the CEO and CFO with a strategy for dealing with budget cuts.

Here's some ways to help protect your budget:

Explain your IT costs and how they compare based on your industry and location. If you are over the industry average, make sure you can explain why. For instance, can you point out how you are using IT to drive greater business value?
Have a list of priorities for reducing IT costs.
Make sure you have a clear idea of how to invest in value-added IT initiatives.

Meanwhile, Gartner's CIO survey also found that the average CIO stays in place for nearly four years in the U.K. And that means that the average CIO can see major initiatives from start to finish. So with tough days ahead for many CIOs in 2008, now is the time to show your strengths and ideas for innovation. It's not a time for the faint-hearted.

For advice on dealing with the tough year ahead:
- See this ComputerWeekly article

Breaking: Microsoft hires former Walt Disney CIO

Mehan Jayasuriya — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 16:17:05 -0500

Microsoft announced yesterday that it had hired Tony Scott, 56, as its new CIO, reaching for an experienced executive from Walt Disney where he led a major IT infrastructure upgrade. Tony Scott replaces Stuart Scott who was fired in November for violating company policies that were never publicly spelled out. Scott will report to Chief operating officer Kevin Turner. Turner said the new CIO will focus on making the most out of Microsoft's IT investments along with sharing best practices with other high-level IT executives. In addition to his work at Walt Disney, Tony Scott's background includes a stint at General Motors, where he was the chief technology officer, as well as experience as the vice president of operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Our internal IT systems and operations play a critical role in the success of our business and how we deliver new technologies and advancements to our customers in the marketplace," Turner said. "We will leverage Tony's deep experience in running global IT organizations...to achieve the highest level of business value by utilizing IT."

For more on Microsoft's new CIO:

- See this press release

Recession fears hit IT

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 06:59:59 -0500

A survey by Baseline in the fourth quarter of 2007 found that 46 percent of respondents believe their companies would cut IT spending and staff if a recession hit. And the survey also found that one-third believe their job would be in jeopardy in the event of an economic downturn. This does not bode well for the IT community. "Companies will do what they have to do to maintain cash flow and profitability," says John von Stein, the chief information officer of The Options Clearing Corp. in Chicago. "IT typically is an area where a delay in projects and initiatives allows the company to spend money later-or not at all-if the business value is no longer there to justify the project."

The survey found other bad signs popping up, too. The respondents believe that more work will be outsourced to Asia and Latin America. But the news isn't all bad. More than 70 percent of respondents believe that more work will shift to the Internet if energy prices keep rising. Stay tuned. This issue is definitely growing and will compel IT executives to use technology to help save unnecessary costs.

For more about the IT world and recession:
- See this Baseline article

CIOs should play bigger role in corporate strategy, study says

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

We've all heard that CIOs' roles are evolving into more of a business role, but according to a new study out this week from IBM, there is still something of a glass ceiling for tech execs that want to play a bigger role in the boardroom. Of the 170 CIOs IBM interviewed, 84 percent said their job has evolved beyond technology infrastructure and computing support to create strategy and help transform the business. But only 16 percent said their companies have done enough to take full advantage of IT. "CIOs need to play a more active role in participating in business discussion, to take this notion of CIOs becoming business leaders and consider what they could do to help their companies achieve that objective," said George Pohle, vice president and global leader for the Institute for Business Value at IBM. "It's up to the CIO to be able to come to the table with good examples of what they can do. They shouldn't just ask to sit at the table and expect that they will think of good ideas while they are there," he added. Resistance to change on the part of business executives was cited by CIOs as one of the things that made their roles the most difficult. On the operation side, however, CIOs felt they're better able to integrate business and technology.

For more:
- read this article
- read the IBM release

Former Dow Jones CIO on Web 2.0

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:01:37 -0400

Transforming media companies from print-based enterprises to new media conglomerates is no east task, but Bill Godfrey is familiar with the challenges involved. After spending nearly eight years as the CIO at Dow Jones, Godfrey recently left to join Elsevier, the science, technology and medical publishing arm of U.K.-based Reed Elsevier, as CIO. And he has leveraged a number of Web 2.0 technologies to help make the transition. Commenting on how CIOs can sell the idea of Web 2.0 to upper management, Godfrey says that you never go into an executive meeting to sell "Web 2.0," but rather, to sell business value. "You say, we want to deliver this set of enhancements to our offering because here's the value we can offer customers, or here's the operational leverage this technology offers us, or here's the defensive technique we want to use to remain contemporary."

For the full interview with Bill Godfrey:
- read the article in CIO Insight

Vendor management by the numbers

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

Whatever you do, don't choose a vendor based on price alone. That's just one piece of advice offered by three CIOs at a roundtable held by market research firm Forrester. Price is a reasonable factor for commodity products, but not for long-term vendor relationships. According to the roundtable, the three most common pitfalls are confusing vendor selection with vendor management, going for the lowest price, and failing to measure the business value of vendor relationships on business metrics. To successfully manage vendors and form strategic partnerships, first acknowledge that vendor management models vary in terms of resources and structure, and make sure to match the vendor management model to organizational needs. Second, categorize an organization's existing relationships according to the role their products and services play in the business. Third, decide on the parameters and decision points that matter most in choosing a vendor. Fourth, document the relationship even before the contract is signed. Fifth, institute regular measurement and data monitoring. Finally, define the partnership to ensure long-term success.

Learn more about effective vendor relationships:
- read the article at eWeek

ALSO:
- read this on managing vendor relationships
- this on when a vendor relationship goes bad
- and this for getting the most from a vendor pitch

Managing legacy systems

Tue, 01 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Every CIO has to deal with high-risk, high-value, legacy systems. It helps to know as much about them as possible, a task more easily accomplished with an IT asset management (ITAM) repository, which tracks and cross-references procurement, contract, inventory, maintenance, entitlement management and retirement information for the software and hardware that a company owns. Once these systems are identified, pinpoint their risks, such as the likelihood and potential business impact of a specific application failure. It's also important to determine the relative business value of these systems and then overlay the risk of a given application with the value; by doing this, you'll clearly see when and why the business must migrate from these legacy systems and how much time remains to do so. Once it's time to migrate, make sure you're moving to a system that enhances business value while reducing risk. Aligning plans and designs with architecture standards helps to future-proof the new environment. It's also important to put mechanisms in place to reduce the chances that high-risk systems will return to the portfolio.

Learn more about managing legacy systems:
- read the article at CIO Canada

Best practices in IT management

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Requests for new systems, enhancements to existing systems, procurement of new technologies, and support for employees, partners, suppliers, and customers seem endless. As a result, users still worry that IT isn't always aligned with business strategy, IT isn't effective enough at deploying resources, and that IT is losing its capacity to innovate because of its maintenance burden. The solution is that IT must shape, not just accept, demand for its services. That means aligning the supply of IT resources to optimize business value, influencing and modifying end user behavior by providing meaningful information, and enabling a more complete understanding of the costs and trade-offs associated with the consumption of IT services and resources.

For more about good IT governance:
- read the white paper at ComputerWorld