Strategies and Trends for Information Technology Leaders
Strategy is creative. Financial planning is operational.Strategic and financial planning require different skills, timelines, and different measures of success. You must separate the two streams of work if you want a real strategy. IT organizations are fairly expert and annual plans and budgets, but not so much at creative, strategic planning. So the money wins…
If you think the only way to manage your business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) program properly means you have to replicate your physical data center, it may be time to explore other options. So many professionals in IT, as well as their C-suite counterparts, are firmly convinced that having a solid BC/DR strategy means…
I was in the lobby of a client in Houston, cooling my heels waiting for an appointment, and then I noticed the pattern of phone calls coming into the receptionist: “No, I’m sorry, our CIO [insert name] is in a meeting. Leave your name, number and why you want to talk with him and I…
For IT organizations, the year ahead will not only be a time for rebuilding but also for innovation. Spending will remain restrained, and IT executives will continue to be asked to deliver more with less. But they are also receiving the go-ahead to take risks with projects that promise long-term improvements in the ability of…
The good news: IT salary levels are once again headed upward. The 2011 IT Salary Guide indicates some respectable boosts in average salary. Lead applications developers get a 4.7% increase and software engineers enjoy a 4.1% boost in paycheck. Okay, so IT managers move up a ho-hum 2.5% and project managers rise 2.8%, but Web…
Despite the apparent economic recovery, many companies continue to focus on cost-reduction and, in the process, persist in demanding reduction of already-stressed IT budgets. In this environment, creative approaches are required to ensure availability of funding for critical IT services and initiatives. One way IT executives can safeguard their IT budgets and preserve funding for…
My first column talked about why CFOs want to shift more IT costs from large capital expenditures (capex) to ongoing operational expenses (opex). Practically speaking, this means swapping IT asset ownership with monthly rental payments. Costs, as a result, become more affordable, predictable, and aligned with the sales rhythm of your business. That’s soothing to…
Technologies change constantly. When a technology becomes ubiquitous, i.e., it’s only noticed when it’s not there, it’s become a utility and probably a commodity. What happens when a technology moves from being a strategic direction to being a utility? How can you tell and how do you measure and manage it? A strategic technology is…
There has been a longstanding tradition in most IT departments to want to own the technology they deploy. Changes in both the economy and technology in recent years, however, are putting pressure on this tradition. CFOs, in particular, want to shift more of the costs associated with IT from the capital expenditure (capex) budget to…
The economic downturn forced deep cuts in IT budgets. Now, as CIO’s plan for the recovery, they are facing unprecedented demand for IT services from the business. At the same time, organizations are still keeping spending tightly under control. As CIOs prepare for next year’s budget cycle, it is unrealistic to assume that they can…