Newly forged IT managers face a daunting challenge: They need deep technical knowledge to oversee a technology team — along with a mix of specific soft skills that help them motivate their former peers. With this in mind, how should you go about identifying IT staff who are ready to make the jump into their…
As a seasoned CIO Scott Laverty has learned a thing or two about assessing IT’s limitations and needs. So when Laverty signed on as executive vice president and CIO of Shane Co. three years ago to launch a digital overhaul of the jewelry chain, “We made sure we were not only thinking about what skillsets…
Many financial services companies are content to test new products and services within the cozy confines of innovation labs, where risks are minimal for a notoriously risk-averse industry. In today’s digitally-obsessed, disrupt or be disrupted era, TD Ameritrade is more interested in releasing innovation out into the world to see what happens. The online broker…
How employees feel about their work is significant driver of organizational success. Engaged workers are more productive, stay with employers longer, and tend to refer friends and colleagues, thereby boosting your hiring efforts. Disengaged workers, on the other hand, are more likely to leave for other opportunities, or worse, drag down the productivity of your…
What is the CSM certification? Agile practices are being rapidly adopted in project and product management across many industries, and the Scrum master is an important leadership role in agile development. The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) qualification, available through the Scrum Alliance, is an entry-level certification aimed at providing professionals with an awareness of the methodologies…
Not all outsourcing relationships last. And it could be any number of reasons that might suggest an IT service provider relationship is worth breaking up over. The outsourcing vendor’s performance may be poor. The client may feel they’ve lost control of their IT organization. Costs and fees may have ballooned. The contract may be nearing…
It’s been a horrible, violent month. In case you missed it, here’s a brief synopsis: White men decided to make America great again by assaulting protesters; killing black people in a grocery store, shooting up yet another school, sending pipe bombs to a number of prominent Democrats, slaughtering worshippers in a synagogue. And that’s just…
How many statisticians do you need to build a new data model? Zero, according to Tableau Software: It says the next version of its widely used analytics tool will do it itself. Tableau demonstrated this, and a new feature called Ask Data that allows users to create visualizations by describing what they want in natural…
Digital businesses are defined by their use of technologies that fall under the “digital” umbrella — a constantly evolving mix that currently includes social media, mobile computing, analytics, cloud, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things. The statistics are alluring. Depending on which punditry you embrace you’ll read of large differentials in growth rates, profit…
What is a CRM strategy A CRM strategy is a series of processes and projects focused on one goal: transforming every customer contact and conversation into a corporate asset. It’s a set of incentives and standards about how we and our channel partners interact with prospects and customers, and it requires sales and marketing…