Archive for June, 2008

White Paper or Sh1te Paper?

How many of the ‘White Papers’ (technical white papers) do you read are quality, informative items, and how many are just marketing crap? In my early career, I found White Papers to be an effective, informative and free way of learning about technology. I used to read a lot of them. Back then (I’m talking [...]

Why Business Sponsorship and a Center of Excellence is Key to BPM Success

BPM isn’t a fad nor a bolt-on to business. BPM is a model for business and it is growing. BPM is about continuous improvement and scale through technology. BPM must be recognized at the highest level in an organizational to truly deliver on the promises sold by vendors. Here’s why:

Continuous improvement is the primary business [...]

What’s this Software as a Service (SaaS) all about? A layman’s view and implications for Technical Professionals

Many of you might know about Software as a Service (SaaS). It is a growing industry within IT, and based around (what might be to some) a simple concept. That is, software isn’t owned, but rented; not installed, but accessed; it’s not paid for upfront, but pay-as-you-go. You could liken it to watching TV [...]

You Must Industrialize IT to Secure your Organization’s Future

Can you afford to continue wasting time and resources by re-inventing the wheel and firefighting? This is the question many IT leaders are asking themselves in light of a downturn in financial markets and pressure to get more from less.
Recent keynote addresses by companies like IBM and Forrester say that IT must move away from [...]

Prepare for the Future of IT Organization, or Be Left Behind

I’ve just come from the Forrester IT Forum in Lisbon, Portugal, and discovered a number of insights that crystallized some thoughts I’d been having for a while. One of these insights that resonated especially was the future of IT Leadership and the potential fork in the road of the IT career path.
During the last few [...]

How to Build Your Virtual Center of Excellence

A Virtual Center of Excellence is a fairly new organizational concept. Its aim is to bring the capabilities, knowledge and expertise together from diverse teams across geographical and organization boundaries to create something exemplary and distinguishable within its domain. Said another way, VCOEs create a kick-ass team of experts brought together over the web. [...]

Delivery is still the top concern of Execs!

I’ve been mixing with some of the top Execs (CIOs, CTOs, Heads of IT) over the last few days at the Forrester IT Forum in Lisbon, Portugal, and I’ve had a number of conversations about the top issues they face.
Not surprisingly, delivery is still the key concern.

What I discovered though is that this issue varies [...]

The Phenomenal Power of Enablement: Implications for Corporates and Individuals

You might think that Web 2.0 was set to totally disrupt and displace the big players in the IT industry. New players have risen in the last 15 years; Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Myspace, to name but a few. All these new guy’s propositions are based on amassing large volumes of data on individuals and [...]

How to respond when prospectors call following Press Announcements

Have you noticed that when your organization announces something in the press that you begin to receive an unusual number of calls offering consultation and other services? Your company may have just announced a new product launch, division, lay-offs or a serious accountancy error.
It can be a pain in the ass, quite frankly. But remember, [...]

Grip of recession (?)

The media continues to report that we’re in the grip of a recession. Whilst this maybe true, I haven’t yet seen a cascade of severance and canceled projects; but that may still come.
A little while ago I offered 5 recession beating tips for Technical Professionals which discussed some proactive measures to reduce your personal risk [...]