In almost every conversation I have with CIOs, a common theme comes up: how to get the silos within IT to work together. The relationships between the different groups vary, but the one that seems to have the most tension is between network and security operations. It’s no secret that there has been, and continues…
With all its emphasis on forward-looking innovation, digital transformation is also triggering increased interest in an age-old IT practice: outsourcing. Most CIOs are migrating applications to public cloud services, offloading operations and maintenance of computing, storage and other capabilities so they can reallocate staff to focus on what’s strategic to their business. The same is…
I am loving an article on CIO.com by Martha Heller right now which opens with a great proposition – “How to strengthen IT’s connection to your business.” I think that it’s crucial that this connection is strengthened. The difference between firms that have aligned IT and business strategy and those that have not is quite…
Digital disruption across a wide array of industries is forcing companies to double down on innovation. Painfully aware that competitors are racing toward the same goals, companies are taking new risks as they pursue digital transformations, experimenting with new digital services and capabilities to augment existing offerings or to slide into adjacent markets. And few…
In IT, the bigger the hype, the greater the misconceptions, and data analytics is no exception. Analytics, one of the hottest facets of information technology today, can result in significant business gains, but misperceptions can get in the way of a smooth and timely delivery of analytical capabilities that might benefit business users and ultimately…
What is DataOps? DataOps (data operations) is an emerging discipline that brings together DevOps teams with data engineer and data scientist roles to provide the tools, processes and organizational structures to support the data-focused enterprise. “You’ve got the modern trend for development of DevOps, but more and more people are injecting some sort of data…
Executives know they need high quality data in order to make sound business decisions. But getting accurate data in a timely, user-friendly format remains a challenge. Sure, there is a vast industry of consultants and vendors with business intelligence (BI) expertise. How do you know if you are being “led down the garden path”? Is…
Finding a new job while you’re still employed is a tricky prospect. On one hand, you’re more attractive to potential employers if you already have a job. On the other, one false move and you could end up being fired or, at the very least, sully your reputation in the marketplace. Here’s how to best…
This article is a summary of a whitepaper by William Ulrich and Daniel Lambert with the same title. Standards, based on the collective experiences of communities of practice, form the basis for advancing the maturity of a given discipline. As that discipline matures and the community of practice grows, standards serve as a critical foundation…
“The sun always shines above the clouds,” optimists enjoy telling us. What they fail to mention is that beneath the clouds there’s often high winds, torrential downpours, lightning and the occasional golf-ball-size hail bombardment. The same is true with cloud computing. On the sunny side, the cloud offers a variety of benefits, including the promise…