Even as CIOs enter their third generation of IT services deals, misconceptions persist about the practice of IT outsourcing. Worse, new illusions have begun to emerge as outsourcing approaches have evolved. Achieving desired outcomes when working with third-party providers depends on clear-eyed understanding of what’s possible and what’s not, what responsibilities remain with the buyer…
The Road to Reinvention (Leadership in the Digital Age) was a program that ran last week at the University of California’s Center for Digital Transformation. The event was chock full of digital leaders and shared many lessons for legacy and digital native business CIOs. Here are some highlights from an all-day program. Alignment is essential…
What’s keeping the company where you work from implementing AI? Larry Lefkowitz, chief scientist for AI practice at tech consultancy Sapient, says only 20 percent of businesses use AI at scale. “AI adoption is in its infancy,” he explains. “Clearly AI is hot … but it’s also clear that it’s not being adapted and adopted…
Employees are consumers too—they fly JetBlue, ride Uber, shop on Amazon, stay at high end hotel chains and spend money with Apple Pay. On a regular basis, they interact with companies that deliver a great customer experience. But when they come to work, they don’t find this same great experience from their company’s service desk,…
Like the balance between yin and yang, the two opposite but complementary forces espoused by traditional Chinese culture, the technology and business sides of your company often have opposite yet complementary needs and directions. When the yin and yang of your business are in harmony, you can reach your goals. When they are out of…
The European Union plans to make some digital service providers pay tax in the countries where they do business. The move that will affect not just Google and Facebook but major European companies too — and perhaps make it easier for startups to enter the market. There are two parts to the proposal: A quick fix,…
Oh, TOGAF, you nearly 700-page behemoth of controversial architecture framework text. Why are you both so loved and loathed in the enterprise architecture world? I like The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), but I do not view it as the be-all-end-all tome of EA. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to those who…
SAP has quietly settled its $600 million software licensing dispute with Anheuser-Busch, the U.S. subsidiary of beverage conglomerate AB InBev. “The parties settled the dispute on 30 June 2017 and the matter is now closed,” AB InBev said in its 2017 Annual Report, published Tuesday. [ Comparison shopping? See “The best ERP systems:10 enterprise resource…
In most cases, CIOs rightly focus on aligning IT strategy with the overall strategy for the business, and they attempt to meet those objectives in the most efficient manner possible. However, management’s short-term financial targets (eg. quarterly earnings) often force IT leaders to look for quick solutions to meet specific problems, as opposed to building…
What is CMMI? The Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) is a process and behavioral model that helps organizations streamline process improvement and encourage productive, efficient behaviors that decrease risks in software, product and service development. The CMMI was developed by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University as a process improvement tool for projects,…