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,…
The rate of technology change and voracious competition for market share are producing cloud organisations that are seriously overburdened, and it’s going to get worse if Kevin Casey’s “5 cloud computing trends for 2018” materialize. Trends such as multiple hybrid cloud models require multivendor management, in addition to the integration of the technologies. This all…
As you implement digital transformation strategies, you need to plan for an explosion in traffic growth. Consequently, you need to build data centers using the same state-of-the-art principles the hyperscales have adopted: A leaf spine Clos design, which accommodates large amounts of east-west traffic, is essential to support today’s web applications A multi-hardware vendor strategy,…
While global enterprise businesses are perpetually challenged to grow revenues while improving their margins, the current generation is also wrestling with the threat of industry-wide disruption driven by new, “digital first” entrants. Consider how entire industry verticals – media, payments, shopping, travel, hospitality, to name but a few – have been up-ended by new entrants…
There are a number of reasons why IT outsourcing engagements fail — from unrealistic expectations and lack of governance to misaligned interests and poor communication. Sometimes the problems lie with the IT service provider; other times, the customer is at fault. In most cases, the two parties each share some of the blame. However, there…
In “What a CIO needs to know about initial coin offerings,” I discussed Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and how they can be a viable alternative to raising funds. ICOs allow businesses to launch their own cryptocurrency in exchange for capital from interested buyers. Beside ICOs, another topic of interest among startups and small businesses, especially…
Digital technologies present an immense opportunity for organizations to grow their revenues through innovative customer experiences and business models. However, the same opportunities are also available to competitors and digital disruption is now one of the biggest competitive threats that organizations should be prepared for. A recent study by MIT Sloan Management Review (SMR) determined…
The IT budget says a lot about its owners: whether executives have a roadmap for the future and whether they’re willing to pay for it, whether company leaders value innovation or whether they still see technology as only a behind-the-scenes function. So what then, does your budget say about you, your IT department and the…
To be “enterprising” is to be eager to undertake or to attempt. To show initiative and be resourceful. These are leadership traits, so to be enterprising is to lead. ‘Analytics’ is how we use data to inform decision making, in the context of achieving business objectives. These are management practices, so analytics is about management.…