Archive for the ‘IT Executive Management’ category

IT Execs Need Work In The Cloud

August 3rd, 2011

The cloud is still considered a young, relatively new technology and while there is a lot of optimism towards it there is also some hesitation. That hesitation starts at the top according to one study by the KPMG Sourcing Advisory. They conducted a test in which cloud service providers and advisors tested their enterprise outsourcing customers, asking each to rate the executives’ capability from 1 to 5. A 1 on the spectrum represented “very unskilled” and 5 stood for “very skilled.” According to a PC World report on the study, enterprise IT executives were ranked lowest in the study, with service providers giving an average score of 2.19 and advisors grading execs 1.69.

 A lot of companies have made the cloud their top priority but from what I’m hearing many of these cloud adoption programs are slowly getting off the ground and lack direction. The cloud is still a largely unknown entity. That’s not to say executives don’t know what cloud computing is or the benefits it can provide. I’m not saying these are dumb individuals by any stretch of the imagination. However, people fear the unknown, to be blunt, and because this technology is somewhat in its infancy stages there is a lot we don’t know. Simply put, if IT execs are going to make large future investments in the cloud, like they are saying, they’ll need to be a little more educated on the issue. They need more real world experience and practice in cloud computing. Practice makes perfect, right? Once there is a better understanding, I think obviously you’ll see cloud adoption rise and plans move forward at a more rapid pace because execs know just how they want to utilize the technology.

CIO- Business or Technology?

November 29th, 2010

CIOs play important roles in companies and organizations all over the world today. The Chief Information Officer is usually the most senior executive in an enterprise responsible for the information technology and computer systems that support enterprise goals. They typically report to the chief executive officer, chief operations officer or chief financial officer. When talking about this high level position of IT leadership though, there are some common misperceptions.

CIO Insight has an article up now discussing the myths of a CIO’s role. One of these that stood out to me in particular was the idea that CIOs usually earned some kind of “techie” degree along the way. In reality, some don’t have any formal IT education. However, technology ignites their passion and intellectual curiosity when it comes to envisioning how it can solve business challenges. So that leads me to the question, is it better to have a business savvy CIO as opposed to one whose more technologically inclined?

Ideally you would like to have the best of both worlds but that is not always possible. On the one hand you need somebody capable of running a fairly important department effectively and efficiently. On the other hand, you need someone in tune with the rapidly evolving world of clouds and iPads in order to stay on top of the competition. Having someone that can relate to the IT architects and such is very important as well. At the same time that person needs to be able to articulate these IT projects (without using IT jargon) to various stakeholders in order to sell them on different issues and gain their support. It is a tough choice with a lot on the line. Which way do you go?

New from IMF: The IT Cost and Performance Annual Report

May 20th, 2010

Historically, IMF and Global Information Partners have focused on detailed, engagement-based benchmarking studies. This has allowed us to build what we believe is the strongest and most up-to-date IT cost, productivity, and quality database in the benchmarking industry. These benchmarks continue to be a key performance improvement tool for many companies, creating a steady influx of information to the database.

More recently, we’ve been focusing on compilation and trend analysis within our own benchmarking database. At both a high and a detailed level, we’re performing a number of analytics to gain insight into where IT organizations are gaining ground, what the key investment areas are, and what the current pain points are. In addition to applying detailed outputs from these analytics to our detailed benchmarking studies, we’re at a point now where we want to share the high level cost and performance trends with the IT industry.

To that end, IMF will be releasing the first IT Cost and Performance Annual Report in June of 2010. Mainly focused on the Operations side of IT, this report will contain service growth trends, unit cost performance trends, productivity and staffing trends, and trends in service levels. IMF members will receive the report as a part of their membership subscription, and non-member organizations will be able to purchase the report for a small fee.

Now is the time to give us feedback on the key areas you would like included in the report. If you have any specific analyses or metrics of interest, you can send them to IMF Member Services or leave a comment.

Come See IMF’s Outsourcing Trends Discussion

If you’re trying to understand how the various options for managed services and outsourcing are impacting IT service costs and IT delivery models, come join us in July at the Project Management and Outsourcing Forum. With further commoditization of IT infrastructure services and the entry of new cloud and Infrastructure as a Service (IAAS) providers, companies have a number of options available to deliver IT. This discussion will focus on the relative impact of various delivery models that IMF has observed in benchmarking studies in recent months.