The War on Cybercrime is Not Lost

“To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.” – Sun Tzu by Blake McConnell of Symantec There may not be physical battle lines drawn, but the current conflict between cybercriminals and businesses and governments is just as real and damaging as a war…

Transformational Change Is Always Hard

by Dave Lowenstein of Federated Networks Starting something new, anything new is always hard, for the gravitational pull of complacency has immense power. What’s even more difficult is starting something new that is transformational in its scope. Initiating disruptive transformational change in an IT industry that is skeptical and pretty darn jaded (but hey, who…

The Market Moves

by Ernie von Simson Apple’s integrated business model is rattling last year’s IT leaders just as minicomputer companies were rattled and ultimately destroyed by the PC and the PC’s “layered” business model two decades ago. When the market moves, even the soundest business strategy cannot withstand such shock waves. And the market is obviously moving…

Managing Power More Effectively

by Chuck Tatham of CiRBA The green movement and “greening” of the data center was a trend that attracted some attention for a time but never really caught on as a meaningful trend. Having a greener data center is admirable from a corporate responsibility perspective, but in many cases power is of interest due to…

What Next in Mobility?

by Ernie von Simson August is usually a slow somnolent month; a torpid time to loll at the beach, play with the kids, or read empty novels, certain that nothing strenuous can happen before Labor Day. This August was different. The IT sector’s dynamic mobile business suffered three major reversals: Apple lost Steve Jobs; HP…

The Importance of Consistent Management

At a time when the cost of doing business has taken a harder hit than many other periods in recent history, one of the greatest challenges I believe is faced by most corporate leaders – if not all – is the ability to remain focused and true to the vision of an organization while surviving…

Investing in an Executive Dashboard?

I’m not alone, I suspect, in continuously seeing applications for the old adage – “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” In preparing for this column on executive dashboards I have to admit that it came resoundingly to mind again. With growing attention to IT delivering value to its business and organizations,…

Transformational Project Approach & Structure

This is my third and final post in a blog series regarding application portfolio modernization projects. Specifically, I have covered different approaches and processes for making smart application portfolio decisions. As a short recap, in my first post I discussed the business costs of doing nothing, even in the midst of a largely flat or…

Sourcing Vendors in the Midst of Uncertainty

Faced with this latest period of tumult and uncertainty in the tech industry (and the economy in general), how should CIOs respond? Almost certainly, some emerging companies with promising products or services, will run through their cash or otherwise fail to achieve reasonable scale. Or they’ll fall victim to first mover dis-advantage and be eclipsed…

CIO2CEO: Big Hairy ‘Oh Crap!’

Okay, I admit that I stole the idea for this title from Jim Collins. Collins introduced the world to BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals) in his book Built to Last. It’s a simple yet truly powerful concept. For those who have pursued BHAGs, you’ve probably stepped in a few BHOCs (big hairy ‘Oh craps!’) along…