“Powerful,” by the former chief talent officer at Netflix, Patty McCord, came second on the Washington Post’s list of leadership books to read in 2018 – and it’s becoming an influential text about how to manage rapidly expanding businesses in an age of technological change. There is much about the book which I agree with,…
In 2018, cloud computing went mainstream. Virtually all organizations (96 percent) use it in one way or another. However, studies show that as users gain cloud maturity, they tend to move from hybrid cloud scenarios – which comprise both private and public clouds – toward multi-cloud landscapes spread across a multitude of service providers. Indeed,…
There are two types of productivity killers in the modern workplace: small distractions that sap your focus and big productivity killers that push you into applying time and effort in all the wrong places. Like it or not, weak IT management practices are what cause the more significant productivity killers. Following is a look at…
For years you’ve been told to avoid technology for technology’s sake – yet the same trap is catching CIOs pushing for digital transformation because everyone else is doing it. Like any IT initiative, digital transformation only makes sense if it supports your organization’s overall strategy. Don’t do it simply because everyone else is doing it…
Moving into management is tempting to many IT pros, but before jumping into a position you’re not ready for, there are a few issues you should examine. I’ve been fortunate to have managed thousands of employees in my 20-plus years of managing IT resources. One of the interesting things I’ve consistently noticed during that time…
Agile is supposed to be yesterday’s news. Advanced companies? They’ve jumped to DevOps. Except, a lot of application teams not only haven’t adopted agile techniques, they don’t even see how they could. You might find this surprising — until you take a closer look at what these teams need to do: There’s very little overlap…
Why do some organizations overspend on mobile technology while others manage their remote telecom expenses with maximum efficiency? Usually, the answer is simple: automation or lack of it. Many organizations have a Mobile Expense Management (MEM) process or solution in place, which is a great start to controlling costs – but it is only a…
SAP has decided to “sunset” a front-office service with which it hoped to crack the small business market. Launched in May 2016, SAP Anywhere was supposed to help small companies build online stores, create marketing campaigns, manage inventory and analyze business performance. To achieve this it offered integrations with web services from Google, PayPal and…
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…