Most of you have heard the phrase that 90% of the manufacturing cost of a product is determined during product design. The same can be said about the program execution risk profile of IT-enabled transformations. The master statement of work (MSOW) established at the beginning of the program locks in 90% of the risk profile…
Companies that depend on vast supply chains to produce their wares tend to work with hundreds or even thousands of partners, many of which require an online portal — or several — with which to share information. Flex, the $26 billion supply chain technology company formerly known as Flextronics, is no exception. That presented a…
W. Edwards Deming, a pioneer in applying statistical techniques and predictive analytics to business processes, said it best. “The big problems,” he observed, “are where people don’t realize they have one in the first place.” When it comes to predictive analytics, “big problems” are often not apparent during planning and early deployment, becoming a concern…
Structuring an enterprise and/or a business architecture model without measuring any of its key elements is a waste of time. It’s critical to any architecture model to have key performance indicators (KPIs) in place – and these strategic and tactical measurements should not be limited to IT. It’s also helpful to understand the sources of…
Building an outstanding tech team starts with hiring well. And in a competitive environment, sometimes that means hiring away top IT talent from other firms. But if you’re not Google, Facebook or a blisteringly hot startup, how do you compete for standout candidates? To find out, we talked with tech pros who’ve hired well for…
Name: Alastair Pooley Company: Snow Software Job title: CIO Time in current role: 5 months Location: Bracknell, UK Alastair Pooley was appointed CIO of Snow Software in January of this year, taking responsibility for global IT strategy and implementation. Prior to his role at Snow, Pooley spent five years at multinational security company Sophos, where…
I read a great piece the other day by author Robin DiAngelo (who literally wrote the book on white fragility) on how white people respond to workplace diversity training. It held few surprises: White people tend to react defensively, invoke white fragility, and claim they’re being attacked. One example even involved a woman whose co-workers…
If Brad Clay gets the formula right, Lexmark printers will no longer go thirsty, running out of their precious toner during critical business tasks. Leveraging machine learning (ML) and internet of things (IoT), Lexmark’s printers will soon predict when their business-critical liquid will run out and automatically order more before leaving customers high and dry,…
CIOs are quickly learning that cultivating an agile IT organization requires out-of-the-box thinking in the age of digital transformation. That, along with the glaring talent shortage, is why many IT leaders are cross-training employees in other disciplines and domains. Such “reskilling,” as it’s increasingly known, is driven by the need for increased velocity to drive…
SAP-driven digital transformation initiatives have created a groundswell of system integrator (SI) evaluations. As organizations begin evaluating prospective SI partners, the following are opportunities to improve your SI evaluation and selection process. Initial engagement Most organizations have relationships with consulting partners capable of supporting an SAP transformation, yet despite these relationships, the SIs are initially…