sorts

Microsoft's new CIO has a very big job

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

It's not so easy being #1, especially if all eyes are on you as Microsoft's new CIO. Tony Scott, 56, Microsoft's new CIO, will direct the company's global IT organization. He will oversee worldwide sales, marketing and business applications as he navigates the way for the giant tech vendor. Phil Murphy, an analyst with the CIO group at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass., describes it this way: "It's a dragon's den of sorts." Gordon Haff, principle IT advisor at research firm Illuminata in Nashua, N.H., says any CIO at a big IT vendor needs to do the job and simultaneously showcase the company's own products. "CIOs at any of the software or hardware companies very much have to look at their own operations and say, "Wow, I can do that with my products, whether it is Microsoft's or IBM's or HP's, and say this is really cool." Haff said.

Not only that, Microsoft's CIO produces software for customers and makes sure that products work properly across platforms. "It is a very different world when you are in commercial software as opposed to when you are 'simply' trying to satisfy some internal users. The other big thing here is that Microsoft internal users are likely to be far more savvy, right?" Murphy said. "It's no small job, certainly." So we are certainly waiting for the new guy in town to shake things up, do it differently and take a very big job by the horns. Stay tuned.

For more on the challenges for Microsoft's new CIO:
- Check out this SearchCIO article

CIOs spending too much time on staffing issues

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:01:39 -0500

A serious skill shortage in the IT industry has created a war of sorts in hiring and retaining qualified IT professionals. As a result, CIOs are spending a disproportionate amount of time finding talent, training new hires, and keeping veteran talent happy so that they don't jump ship. In addition to hefty raises, that means offering other perks and continuing education, as well as being flexible about time off and family-related issues. It's particularly important to retain good IT professionals because replacing them is time-consuming, keeping CIOs away from other important corporate-wide responsibilities.

Read more about the IT staffing shortage:
- read the article at Computing Canada

ALSO NOTED: A new Internet rights policy; Voice-driven products;

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:01:38 -0500

> Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and others develop an Internet rights policy. Article

> Vendors are embedding voice-driven features in all sorts of products, leading to potential efficiency gains. Article

> Software as service is on the rise. Article

> Microsoft announces tools to help Lotus Notes/Domino users take advantage of Exchange Server 2007 features. Article

> Lotus and IBM to introduce social networking tools designed to change the way companies collaborate internally and with partners. Article

And Finally... You think that your employer is a stickler for productivity? Take a look at what a bathroom break means at Google's Mountain View headquarters. Article

Golf club maker hits par with PLM efforts

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 20:01:36 -0400

Product lifecycle management (PLM) isn't a new concept by any means, but it's getting renewed interest these days from all sorts of companies looking to streamline, gain efficiency and speed up product development processes. One advocate is a golf equipment maker that has embraced PLM as a competitive tool which has propelled product development from two to 14 products a year and boosted up time to market from two years to just nine months. No small feat in such a competitive industry, and given its PLM success, the company is now propelling PLM capabilities to its suppliers as a way to shore up collaboration.

For more on making PLM payoff:
- read this article at CIO Insight

SPOTLIGHT: New Wikis bring some business tools into play

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:01:34 -0400

The Wiki is getting more attention and use within the corporate workspace these days thanks to some new applications that go beyond the traditional data-sharing capability that early versions provided users. One of the newest Wiki tools is JotSpot 2.0, which offers up business functionality. For example, a feature called Tracker lets users integrate all sorts of documents, such as calendars and file attachments, in a hosted Excel document. Article