Strategies and Trends for Information Technology Leaders
By John Keppel The global outsourcing market is increasingly characterized by growing volumes of contracting activity, coupled with a sharp decline in total contract value. This was a key finding that emerged from the Q413 ISG Outsourcing Index, which measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value (ACV) of $5 million or more. The Q413…
The Biggest difference between SAS70 and SOC2/3 One of the biggest differences between an old SAS70 report and a new SOC 2/3 report is that management of the service organization cannot decide which controls they will test. Service organizations can select which criteria to evaluate (security, availability, confidentiality, processing integrity or privacy), but they must…
by Caroline Lowden, director of Internal Audit for Cbeyond Cloud computing is providing many businesses with a cost-effective, low-maintenance approach to store and maintain customer data. Eliminating on-site servers frees up resources and money allowing businesses to invest in additional products without hindering their workflow or sacrificing security. More cloud, more regulation This increased reliance…
I have always been an advocate of IT outsourcing but over the last several years it has become apparent that services available from many sources has made outsourcing of other business processes a viable option, as well. I was talking with a friend recently and had an epiphany regarding this subject: Just like IT, there…
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…
The concept of the “extended enterprise” is hardly new. Even in the early years of the 20th Century when big corporations were gathering all the means of production under their corporate roofs to exercise control, the management theorists were advancing such ideas as the “organization as community” and the “environmental complex” as a management problem….
Offshoring appeared to make sense in pre-recession days when customers were viewed as commodities and local job preservation as little more than a quaint notion. Then along came a global recession that made cost-savings a grim necessity and offshoring neatly fit the bill. Post recession, consumer behaviors and opinions are shifting radically and offshoring is…
KPMG recently surveyed 450 CIOs from around the globe to ascertain their agendas for the coming years, what they perceive to be the primary obstacles faced as well as the areas of opportunity. Bryan Cruickshank, global leader for Technology Advisory at KPMG was point man for that project. Bryan trained as an auditor and has…
The clouds are moving in, a storm front of lightening fast change. Its cresting waves threatening to drown corporate IT jobs in a sea of irrelevance. The CIO stands in the tempest wondering if his role, too, will be washed away. With all things IT inevitably moving to the cloud, how is an earthbound soul…
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2009 was the year of the ox. Those born last year, the calendar says, are endowed with qualities of stability, endurance, perseverance and tenacity. This year, however, is the tiger’s year, a year of courage, fearlessness and fighting spirit. The tiger, the ancient Chinese say, wards off the most common…