“Life can only be understood backward; but it must be lived forwards.” Soren Kierkegaard. Is your IT organization in 2019 or 1991? Never did the above Kierkegaard quote resonate more when listening to a millennial relay a sad story that took me back to the 1990s. This 20-something, whom I’ll call Kay, was stoically heading… Read More Dear CIO: What Year Is IT?
When an IT leader needs help or advice, the first place s/he should turn to is their own team – whether it is day 1 or year 10+. You and your company hired people for a reason. You probably directly hired some % of the team. Presumably you hired people whose intellect, opinion and work… Read More Dear CIO, You Have All You Need. Sincerely, Your Team
According to the Brookings Institute, the digital economy is growing 2.5 times faster than global GDP in 21st century. In the same article, a Deloitte survey is referenced, whereby companies who have 75% or more of their IT in various “as a Service” (Software, Infrastructure, Platform) models have moved from “reducing costs” to “accelerating innovation.”… Read More The Ultimate IT Budget Top 5 Q&A
As we approach 2020, the inflation on technical debt continues to exponentially accelerate, and organizations may find it increasingly difficult to fund and manage the investment required to eradicate debt. Challenges include: Difficulty establishing current state. Information Technology departments have chronically lacked the time and dollars to invest, maintain and leverage configuration management tools, ergo… Read More The Rising Inflation on Technical Debt
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Bill Gates, Gates Foundation, Co-Founder of Microsoft. Vendors are hired to deliver something organization needs or wants done more cheaply, accurately, thoroughly, expertly, and/or quickly than the organization could otherwise do themselves. Among the worst feedback a vendor could get is “you know, we really… Read More How To Keep A Customer in 5 Tips
“It’s a common misconception that money is every entrepreneur’s metric for success. It isn’t, nor should it be.” Richard Branson Five 9s is so 1999. IT leaders need to think differently about the performance indicators for themselves and their organizations. 1. The frequency of features and functions delivered to the customer. How often is your… Read More Five New Metrics for CIOs
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?” Henry David Thoreau The late Steve Jobs would gather with his top 100 people to prioritize. They would hammer out top 10 priorities, and he would cut down to three, and declare that no Apple money… Read More Prioritize or Perish
