CIO - What's the CEO Reading

CIO - What's the CEO Reading http://www.cio.com/ en-us (c) Copyright 2005 CXO Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Fri, 02 Sep 2005 15:34:22 EST Fri, 02 Sep 2005 15:34:22 EST What's the CEO Reading 60 CIO http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/logo/;pos=top;sz=120x69;tile=1;ord=107182005133846? http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/logo/;pos=top;sz=120x69;tile=1;ord=10718200513384? Back to Business http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=11483 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=11483 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=1;ord=107182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=1;ord=107182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>August is over, and so ends the <A href="http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05226/553248.stm" target=_new>silly season</A>, as the Brits call it, and begins <EM>la rentreé</em> or the return, <A href="http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/motdujour/2005/08/ceinture.html" target=_new>as the French call</A> back-to-school season as well as the time when political and social life begins again in France after a lazy summer break. <P></P> <P>So, with such Continental pretensions, I’ll assume that CEOs are back to reading serious stuff again, no more <A href="http://www.golfdigest.com/" target=_new>Golf Digest</A> or Tom Clancy, and we’ll do the same with this blog’s own <EM>rentree</EM>. </P> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=11483"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 02 Sep 2005 10:53:29 EST Optimistic Financial News http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9931 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9931 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Some upbeat financial news for a Friday: <STRONG>Bloomberg.com</STRONG> reports the <A href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aNaSSbwOWIWs&refer=us" target=_new><STRONG>dollar is up</STRONG></A> against the euro and yen, as a report from the <STRONG><A href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm" target=_new>Labor Department</STRONG></A> revealed employers created 207,000 new U.S. jobs in July. Treasury securities fell after the job and wage gains reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates into 2006 to keep inflation subdued. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9931"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 05 Aug 2005 01:50:19 EST Glass Ceiling Persists http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9412 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9412 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<br> This week’s <strong><em>Economist</em></strong> has a <a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4197626" target="_new"><strong>special report</strong></a> on the status of women in management. The statistics are not admirable. While making up 45.6 percent of the workforce, women account for less than 8 percent of top management, and female managers make an average of 72 percent what their male counterparts make. <p> Given those figures, the majority of people likely to read this post are male, so. . . should you care about that inequity on any level but high-minded principle? The <em>Economist</em> suggests yes. To wit: </p><blockquote> Companies no longer see the promotion of women solely as a moral issue of equal opportunity and equal pay. They have been persuaded of the business case for diversity. It has long been known that mixed groups are better at problem solving than like-minded ones. But the benefits of diversity are greater than this. Research by Catalyst, an American organization that aims to expand “opportunities for women and business”, found a strong correlation between the number of women in top executive positions and financial performance among <e>Fortune 500 companies between 1996 and 2000.</e></blockquote> The problem seems cyclical, without a good entry point for solution. The article cites three main explanations for why so few women reach “C-level”: <ol> <li>Exclusion from informal networks. </li> <li>Stereotyping of women’s capacity for leadership</li> <li>Lack of role models</li> </ol> And there are other factors, such as “the flattening of organizations … as layers of management have been stripped out,” making for fewer opportunities for people to re-enter the workforce at higher levels, in combination with women being more likely than men to take family leave to care for young children or aging parents.<p></p> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9412"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p><b>Related Content</b><br /><table width="600"><tr><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Enterprise</b></font></td><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Sponsor Content</b></font></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/soundoff/column.html?CID=9991?CID=9991">How Do You Win Friends and Influence for IT?</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9343">Cops Use IT to Police Themselves</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/enterprise/"> More Enterprise...</a></font></li></ul></td><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://domains.cio.com/integrien/index.html?lpid0084011700100000idlp">Integrity Management</a></font></li></ul></td></tr></table> Thu, 28 Jul 2005 10:41:33 EST Or, What the CEO Should Be Reading http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9251 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9251 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=4;ord=407182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=4;ord=407182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p><br> Earlier this week, <a href="http://www.juniper.net" target="_new"><strong>Juniper Networks</strong></a>, a networks services provider, unveiled the results of a <a href="http://www.juniper.net/company/presscenter/pr/2005/pr-050719a.html" target="_new"><strong>study</strong></a><strong></strong> it commissioned that examines the relationship between companies’ IT investment and their financial performance. The survey findings will no doubt make CIOs smile and confirm a long-held belief: Companies that view IT as a strategic asset experience on average 30 percent higher revenue growth than companies that view IT as a back-office function or a general waste of time, money and resources. These companies that view IT as strategic and perform well financially tend to possess the following characteristics, according to the survey: <ul> <li>They are more likely to adopt newer technologies more quickly than other companies.</li> <li>When purchasing IT, they are driven by productivity gains more than cost-savings.</li> <li>They have more IT projects underway at one time than other companies. </li> <li>They are 30 percent more likely than other companies to have mobile workers.</li> <li>Their businesses are highly reliant on real-time transactions and automated processes. </li> </ul> The research was conducted by <a href="http://www.tns-global.com" target="_new"><strong>TNS</strong></a><strong></strong>, a market research company based in England. TNS survedy IT decision-makers at 560 companies in North America, Europe and Asia with revenues in excess of $100 million for their attitudes toward enterprise technology. These attitudes were then segmented and mapped on corporate and financial data. <p> From a different quarter comes another research report that’s encouraging for CIOs: Executive search company <a href="http://www.kornferry.com" target="_new"><strong>Korn/Ferry International</strong></a>, recently released <a href="http://www.kornferry.com/Library/Process.asp?P=PR_Detail&CID=1074&LID=1" target="_new"><strong>results from its survey</strong></a><strong></strong> of more than 2,000 executives registered within the firm’s online Executive Center. They show that three-quarters of executives believe that CIOs have a role to play on the board of directors. When asked if CIOs have a role to play on a company’s board of directors, the most popular response by executives was “absolutely” (46 percent), while only a very small portion (three percent) of respondents stated “not at all.”</p> <p> Some encouragement to start your week.</p><br> <em>—Meridith Levinson and Sandy Kendall</em> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=9251"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p><b>Related Content</b><br /><table width="600"><tr><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Enterprise</b></font></td><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Sponsor Content</b></font></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/090105/coach.html?CID=10512">How to Improve the State of IT Research</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/081505/et_innovation.html?CID=10095">Don’t Debate: Innovate!</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/enterprise/"> More Enterprise...</a></font></li></ul></td><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/sponsors/100104aptsoft/index.html">AptSoft Challenge</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;13526966;4196459;x?http://www.cio.com/sponsors/xerox_efficient_office.pdf">The Efficient Office</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/sponsors/020105aptsoft/index.html">Aligning IT with business processes</a></font></li></ul></td></tr></table> Mon, 25 Jul 2005 12:04:51 EST Grid Computing Tutorial http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8963 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8963 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<br> Recently the <strong><a href="http://news.ft.com/cms/s/54cb44b8-f2bf-11d9-8094-00000e2511c8,dwp_uuid=fb0d80f4-2663-11d8-81c6-0820abe49a01.html" target="_new">Financial Times</a></strong> ran a nice, short piece that’d be useful to have when you need to explain the concept of grid computing to your CEO or COO and brief them on its benefits. The article also contains some interesting stats about CIOs’ current and planned use of grid computing from a survey that Deloitte Consulting conducted. It concludes with a thought-provoking question for CIOs to consider: What new business models might grid computing enable your company to explore? <p> For more on grid computing, see: <br> >><strong><a href="http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/storage/story/0,10801,102140,00.html" target="_new">Grid Storage Is in the Eye of the Beholder</a></strong> from <em>Computerworld</em><br> >><strong><a href="http://comment.cio.com/soundoff/042505.html">Who’s Afraid of Grid Computing</a></strong> from CIO.com<br> >><strong><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/051504/grid.html">True Grid</a></strong> from <em>CIO</em> magazine<br></p> <p> <em>—Meridith Levinson</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8963"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p><b>Related Content</b><br /><table width="600"><tr><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Enterprise</b></font></td><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Sponsor Content</b></font></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=10591">How SOA Really Works</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/080105/grid.html?CID=9500">Grid Computing Held Hostage</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/enterprise/"> More Enterprise...</a></font></li></ul></td><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;14716475;4196459;u?http://www.skywaysoftware.com/resourcesciomag.htm">Proven Fastest Path to SOA...</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;16068816;4196459;v?http://www.systimax.com/products/gigaspeedx10d/X10D_Why_White_Paper.pdf">Whitepaper title: The Future of 10G Applications and The Implications for Your Network </a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;16163427;4196459;p?http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;15823186;11268151;c?http://www.idgpartners.com/oracle/pdf/GRID_COMPUTING_WEB.pdf?poppdf=true&tdcode=CIO_GRIDWP3">Economist White Paper: From Grid to Great?</a></font></li></ul></td></tr></table> Tue, 19 Jul 2005 12:02:11 EST Talent Management http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8291 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8291 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<BR>Sometimes an apparently random topic catches your eye, and then you start to see it all around you. That’s happened to me recently with the topic of “talent management,” so I thought I’d share a smattering of what’s out there and written with your boss, or you, in mind. The term used to refer to the care and hiring of models, actors and athletes, but now seems to bring the cachet of those worlds to less celebrated lines of work. Boning up on talent management may help you manage the talent working <I>for you</I>, or help you direct how your boss manages the talent that <I>is you</I>. <P><A href="http://www.thefutureofwork.net/blog/"><B>The Future of Work Weblog</B></A> is an interesting blog from the organization of the same name (a membership organization for HR, IT and facilities professionals). It links to another evolving-workplace blog called <A href="http://www.corante.com/futuretense/" target=_new><B>Future Tense</B></A>. Both of these sites explore the peculiarities of managing the new generation of workers. (If you don’t have any of those workers, you might read <I>CIO</I>’s <B><A href="http://www.cio.com/archive/061505/staffing.html">The Kids Are All Right</A></B>, on recruiting and training entry level workers.) There are upsides (creativity, assertiveness) and downsides (entitlement, casualness) that you need to work with. </P> <P>In <B><A href="http://www.nextgenerationconsulting.com/knowledge_cafe/articles/read/?ArticleID=419" target=_new>Agility: The Next Talent Management Imperative</A></B>, Tony DiRomualdo of Next Generation Consulting says, “Creating work environments that promote people agility across jobs and organizational boundaries is the next imperative for companies seeking competitive advantage through their talent.” </P> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=8291"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 01 Jul 2005 08:05:49 EST Why Bosses Must Care About Security http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7931 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7931 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=7;ord=707182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=7;ord=707182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p><br> There’s been no shortage of coverage and commentary on the snowballing incidents of data theft and ID fraud lately. <b><a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4112390" target="_new">The Economist</a></b> joins the fray, telling us that information protection, which had been “left, until now, to geeky, low-level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data-rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel… is now high on the boss’s agenda in businesses of every variety.” <p> As well it should be. <a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=221"><b>CIO News Alerts</b></a> blog has been following some of the past week’s data loss news. And given that the <i>Economist</i> has a separate <a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=4113198" target="_new"><b>story</b></a> in the same issue on corporate executives actually getting real jail time for their crimes and negligence, there’s an added punch to the directive to top execs to attend to security. </p> <p> “Boards should pay as much attention to these IT operational risks as they do to other operational risks in the firm,” the <i>Economist</i> quotes George Westerman of the MIT Sloan School of Management, and adds: A wise boss will appoint a senior executive to be responsible for data security—and not just to have a convenient scapegoat in the event of a leak. </p> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7931"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 24 Jun 2005 04:47:41 EST Ballmer Predicts Info Management Surge http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7531 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7531 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<br> According to a <b><a href="http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/vftt_ballmer2005.shtml" target="_new">story</a></b> in the <b>Stanford Graduate School of Business</b> newsletter, Microsoft CEO <b>Steve Ballmer</b> predicts more growth in the software industry over the next five years than it has seen in the last decade. And it’ll almost all be in information management technology. (Quite possible. See Chris Lindquist’s <a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=45"><b>Tech LinkLetter</b></a> blog for an example of a new player in that space.) <p> Stanford quotes Ballmer as saying future innovations in information management, unified communications and digital technology will inspire people to "re-imagine the role that computing will play in our daily lives." Ballmer also cited digital entertainment as an area with extraordinary potential for future growth. </p><p> Ballmer, a Stanford Business School grad, was at his alma mater as part of the school’s 2004-05 <b><a href="https://alumni.gsb.stanford.edu/lifelonglearning/speaker_forum/View_from_top.html" target="_new">View from the Top</a></b> series. Aside from these industry predictions, he focused on the need for innovation, and how Microsoft was trying to cultivate it. </p> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7531"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 17 Jun 2005 02:47:32 EST New Business Strategy Reading http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6871 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6871 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<br> Wharton Professor of Legal Studies Kevin Werbach interviewed former McKinsey Consultant John Hagel III and former Xerox Chief Scientist John Seeley Brown about the ideas at the center of their new book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1591397200/ciomagazineA/" target="_new"><b>The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends on Productive Friction and Dynamic Specialization</b></a>. Don’t let the buzzwordy title scare you. While Hagel’s and Brown’s ideas on capability building, process networks and the edge of the enterprise as communicated in the <a href="http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/1220.cfm"><b>interview </b></a> can be lofty, they are thought-provoking. <br> <br> Hegel and Brown get more concrete and provocative when they discuss, about halfway through the interview, the technology infrastructure for coordinating business activities that take place at the edge of the enterprise among a variety of partners and the limitations of service oriented architecture. Hegel sees the focus of IT shifting from automating business processes to enhancing best practices and the ability to get people together to addresss problems and exceptions in the business. It’s worth reading when you have 10 minutes.<br> <i>—Meridith Levinson</i> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6871"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p><b>Related Content</b><br /><table width="600"><tr><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Enterprise</b></font></td><td width="200"><font size="-1"><b>Sponsor Content</b></font></td></tr><tr><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/090105/coach.html?CID=10512">How to Improve the State of IT Research</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/081505/et_innovation.html?CID=10095">Don’t Debate: Innovate!</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/enterprise/"> More Enterprise...</a></font></li></ul></td><td valign="top" width="200"><ul><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/sponsors/100104aptsoft/index.html">AptSoft Challenge</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;13526966;4196459;x?http://www.cio.com/sponsors/xerox_efficient_office.pdf">The Efficient Office</a></font></li><li><font size="-1"><a href="http://www.cio.com/sponsors/020105aptsoft/index.html">Aligning IT with business processes</a></font></li></ul></td></tr></table> Thu, 02 Jun 2005 04:23:47 EST The State of Sarbox http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6569 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6569 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=10;ord=1007182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=10;ord=1007182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>In a <A href="http://www.chiefexecutive.net/depts/governance/208.htm" target=_blank>Q&A</A> in the May issue of Chief Executive Magazine, James Quigley, chief executive of Deloitte & Touche, argues in defense of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. That may not be too surprising given his firm’s line of business, but he does have some interesting observations, and responses to the usual questions about Sarbox, or SOX.<?xml:namespace prefix = o /><o:p></o:p> <P>In saying the legislation should not be diluted or amended, Quigley disagrees with CIO magazine publisher Gary Beach (who says, <A href="http://www.cio.com/archive/040105/publisher.html">repeal Sarbanes Oxley</A>--we’re spending too much on compliance at the expense of other stuff), but Quigley does concede Sarbox’s implementation could be clarified. And he agrees with CIO.com blogger <A href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6170">Ben Worthen</A> in thinking <STRONG>the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB)<I> </I></STRONG>could help drive efficiency and effectiveness. But that organization’s guidance, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s, could occur and be significant without reopening the statute, he says.</P> <P>Quigley’s comment on whether the regulation is “percolating” into the CIO’s sphere was: "If the software that’s designed is key and fundamental and core to the underlying control systems of the enterprise and the process for preparing their financial statements, I believe it is consistent with the intent."<o:p> <BR></o:p></P> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6569"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 25 May 2005 02:26:22 EST http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6069 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6069 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Is your boss traveling this month? Here are some tech-related articles to be found in various May 2005 inflight magazines. <P>Delta’s <B><I>Sky</I></B> magazine has a feature on <A href="http://www.delta-sky.com/editorial/skywriting/cybersurf/index.html" target=_new><STRONG>video conference calling</STRONG></A></B>, saying technical glitches are becoming thing of the past. As quality goes up, prices go down, too. The story quotes Andrew Davis, senior analyst and managing partner of Wainhouse Research, a market research firm based in Brookline, Mass., who says, “It’s on the order of 20 to 25 percent improvement in the price/performance ratio every year.” Systems that used to cost about $200,000 are now around $20,000 and a shift to running video over the Internet instead of phone lines promises even greater change. A rather glowing summation of the future of meetings. <P>Air Canada’s <I><B>en Route</I></B> magazine carries a column in which <A href="http://www.enroutemag.com/e/may05/technology.html" target=_new><B>Don Tapscott enumerates his 14 technology pet peeves</B></A>. His mildly amusing list goes from ATM’s that ask what language you want to use every time you visit to roaming charges, and includes #8: “Relentless use of PowerPoint every time three or more people gather. D-Day was planned without PowerPoint; Socrates didn’t need PowerPoint. Remember design guru Edward Tufte’s line: ‘Power corrupts; PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.’” Actually a couple of his gripes are about things within some IT directors’ purview, so if you start hearing complaints about “Every program automatically starting when I turn on my computer” you might ask whether the complainer has recently traveled to Toronto. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=6069"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 13 May 2005 02:39:24 EST Retention Woes http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4911 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4911 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)CEOs may be reading about staff retention and related issues quite a bit these days. <b><i>California CEO</i></b> has two current stories on it: <a href="http://www.californiaceo.com/currentissue/Q105-CaCEO-p42-43.pdf" target=_new><b>Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em</a></b>, a Q&A with a coauthor of the <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1576751406/ciomagazineA/" target=_new>book</a></b> by the same name, and <a href=http://www.californiaceo.com/currentissue/Q105-CaCEO-p13.pdf target=_new><b>Retaining an Aging Workforce</a></b>, about just that. The author interview stresses management tactics to hang on to your valuable employees—namely, don’t be a jerk if you can help it. The other story ends up focusing on retirement benefit considerations that may keep experienced workers from splitting. <p> Not long ago, we ran a column on the dangers of the Baby Boom retirement wave that lies ahead, in <a href=http://www.cio.com/research/knowledge/know.html?CID=1206><b>Don’t Put Your Company in a Purple Haze</a></b>. An apparently hot topic, judging by the <a href=http://www.cio.com/comment_list.html?ID=1206><b>38 reader responses</a></b>—to which you are welcome to add your own. <p> And it seems Americans aren’t the only ones with staffing woes. <a href=http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3868539 target=_new><b>The Economist</b></a> reports this week that China—yes, the same country whose population makes up about a quarter of the world’s humanity—is facing a talent shortage. The <a href=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/04/19/news/costs.html target=_new><b>International Herald Tribune</a></b> backs this up with its own story, saying, “Skilled workers and technicians are taking advantage of acute shortages to demand double-digit salary increases.” Might be a good career move to <A href="http://chinese-school.netfirms.com/corporate.html" target=_new><b>brush up on your Chinese</b></a>, if you aren’t already among that quarter. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4911"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 19 Apr 2005 04:52:02 EST Hold on to Your Budget http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4486 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4486 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=13;ord=1307182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=13;ord=1307182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>According to <b><a href="http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aYETFdOqk86s&refer=home" target=_new>Bloomberg.com</a></b> today, economists project the U.S. economy will expand at an average 3.5 percent annual pace from July through December of this year, after growing an estimated 3.9 percent in the first six months. The culprit for the slow-down is the price of oil, now rising to record levels. Bloomberg sums up its survey of economists, saying high-priced fuel will “siphon cash from consumers’ pockets that could otherwise be spent on other goods and services... and will prompt Federal Reserve policy makers to raise their interest-rate target more than previously thought.” <p> But don’t let visions of budgets slipping away perturb you. While the weekly index of consumer confidence in the state of the economy fell last week to the lowest since June (according to the <A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28154-2005Apr5.html" target=_new><b>Washington Post-ABC News Consumer Comfort survey</a></b>), Bloomberg says, “The need for businesses to invest in new equipment will probably keep the economy growing at a 3.7 percent rate this quarter after expanding 4 percent from January through March.” <p> That seems to jibe with <i>CIO</i> magazine’s most recent <b><a href="http://www2.cio.com/techpoll/report/0405_techreport.html">Tech Poll Report</a></b>, which shows IT budget growth expectations inched up for the second month in a row after dropping four consecutive months in the last quarter of 2004 and also in January. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4486"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 08 Apr 2005 10:48:48 EST Getting Fired Could Be Good http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4269 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4269 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Is your CEO flying this month? The business story in USAirway’s inflight mag <a href="http://www.attachemag.com/" target=_new><b>Attache</b></a> this month is about how getting fired can be a really great thing. (Click on the header called "The Brief.") It cites celebrity victims like Michael Bloomberg, Joe Torre and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who may not be your run-of-the-mill execs, even if lesser known when fired. Though neither are they Carly Fiorina, whose celebrity rise and fall <b><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2326">Chris Koch nicely excoriates</b></a> in his <a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=341"><b>IT Strategy blog</b></a>. <p> Sarbanes-Oxley presents an area of vulnerability for the top dogs to get fired, as witnessed by the recent <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~130~2786852,00.html" target=_new><b>dismissal of Wal-Mart’s second in command</b></a> for violation of section 404. And as CIO of course you’re needed to <A href=http://www.cio.com/archive/070104/sarbox.html><b>comply with SOX</a></b>. <p> The <i>Attache</i> piece, however, is cheerful and hopeful (come to think of it, when did you last read something gloomy and depressing in an in-flight magazine?), so if you are feeling in danger of <A href="http://www.cio.com/archive/121504/cio_career.html"><b>getting fired</a></b> yourself, it might be worth checking out the story. Then, too, if you have to <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/041501/fire.html"><b>do the firing</b></a>, it may dull the edge of feeling terrible about it. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=4269"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 04 Apr 2005 04:33:46 EST IBM’s Model for Growth http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3386 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3386 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)In an interesting story in its March 2005 issue, <b><i>Fast Company</b></i> describes IBM’s business development strategy. <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/92/ibm.html" target=_new><b>Building a Better Skunk Works</a></b> examines Big Blue’s new-ish strategy of putting its best and brightest on risky new ventures, rather than keep them running the big, big-dollar, heavily staffed projects and divisions. IBM’s mission is to find "emerging-business opportunities," or EBOs—areas that are entirely new to the company and can grow into profitable billion-dollar-plus businesses in five to seven years, <i>Fast Company</i> reports, and adds that, “The actual results have wildly surpassed all expectations. Since the program’s inception in 2000, IBM has launched 25 EBOs. Three failed and were closed down, but the remaining 22 now produce annual revenue of $15 billion, a figure that’s growing at more than 40 percent a year.” <p> Being huge helps, though it’s still a daring model. Of course, it chose a different course for its PC division. My colleague Ben Worthen’s been following the IBM/Lenovo deal in his <a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=281"><b>Tech Policy Blog</a></b>. <p> In other news, supply chain management continues to be a hot topic with the executive at large. A couple of posts ago I linked to a supply chain story in <i>Chief Executive</i> magazine. Stanford Graduate School of Business has recently released a paper by professor Hau Lee called “Mitigating Supply Chain Risk Through Improved Confidence.” Sounds appealing and easy, no? You gotta pay for the full report, but a <a href="http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/supplychain_lee_risk.shtml" target=_new><b>summary</b></a> is on the school’s website. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3386"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 15 Mar 2005 05:21:28 EST Boomer Brain Drain http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3227 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3227 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=16;ord=1607182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=16;ord=1607182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>In the March 21 issue of <i><b>Fortune</b></i> magazine, <a href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/fortune75/articles/0,15114,1034771-1,00.html" target=_new><b>How to Approach the Coming Brain Drain</a></b> covers some ground we’ve worked in these pages (namely Megan Santosus’s knowledge management coverage, such as <a href="http://www.cio.com/research/knowledge/know.html?ID=1206"><b>Don’t Leave Your Company in a Purple Haze</a></b>), but from the CEO’s perspective. According to <i>Fortune</i>, “tens of millions of baby-boomers turn 60 this year, and the decade ahead will see vast numbers of people retiring, or at least leaving their current full-time careers.” <p> Since Megan’s column got more than 30 comments from CIO.com readers (scroll to the bottom of that article to read them or post your own), this must be an issue for a lot of you. Further, <i><b>CIO</b></i>’s most recent <a href="http://www2.cio.com/research/surveyreport.cfm?id=84"><b>Staffing Update</a></b> reports that many CIOs are concerned that their own organization will experience an IT management shortage in the next five to ten years. <p> The <i>Fortune</i> story describes some creative ways companies—such as Dow Chemical, Northrop Grumman, Draper Labs and others—are handling the challenge, and suggests they may be blueprints for others. For example, the story quotes Dave Keppler, the CIO of Dow Chemical on mentor programs, and Scott Schaffar, Northrop Grumman’s director of knowledge management, on “communities of practice.” If you face this, this article may help start a discussion on strategy.<br> <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3227"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 10 Mar 2005 04:13:54 EST The Polygamous Supply Chain http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2927 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2927 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)In the March issue of <i><b>Chief Executive</i></b> magazine, <b><a href="http://www.chiefexecutive.net/depts/technology/206.htm" target=_new>Supply Chain Alchemy</b></a> is the lead technology story. The gist? Bargaining clout and technology are not the only keys to supply chain bliss. Well, that’s how they put it. But it’s a nice general overview of what’s needed for supply chain improvements: an understanding of your own and your business partners’ needs and limitations, and judicious use of technology tools—not “solutions.” <p> The story offers the interesting observation that the relationship requirements of supply chain management make it “like being married to more than one person at the same time.” More interesting yet is the sentence that comes next: “Those who pull it off improve their businesses and enjoy unusually stable associations with strategic business partners.” Well, well. <p> Anyway, this is a cautionary tale for CEOs about the need to take a balanced and honest look at their own operations and requirements (which may include taking care of business partners even at some self-sacrifice) before single-mindedly chasing after savings from automation, outsourcing or technologies like RFID. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2927"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 03 Mar 2005 03:59:41 EST Outsource Your Career http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2553 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2553 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)According to today’s <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110901197991960108,00.html?mod=technology%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs" target=_new></b>Wall Street Journal</a></b> (subscription required), Indian outsourcers are “poaching” U.S. executives for leadership posts. As an example, the story focuses on Doug Bettinger, a senior finance executive and 12-year veteran of Intel, who <a href="http://www.247customer.com/newsandevents/launch21.asp" target=_new><b>joined India’s 24/7Customer</a></b> late last year. The <i>Journal</i> says financial clout is allowing Indian companies to woo Western executives, and recruiters working for the Indian companies confirm that their clients have toand dopay a premium to attract U.S. talent. For their part, Indian businesspeople say these Western executives can help their companies penetrate overseas markets and help put in place systems to manage their growth. <p> Meanwhile, the February 2005 issue of <a href="http://www.washingtonceo.com/" target=_new><b>Washington CEO</a></b>, a magazine for chief executives in the great Northwest, carries a story called “The Outsourcing Option.” The gist of it? There’s too much money involved for companies to ignore the overseas option. It focuses on the fact that the trend of outsourcing is now hitting jobs in which just a few years ago U.S. workers thought they had an advantage. For more discussion on the effects of that down the road, see the writings of my colleagues Ben Worthen (<b><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=281">Flight of the Creative Class</a></b>) and Chris Koch (<b><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/011505/outsourcing.html">Innovation Ships Out</a></b>). <p> Another way to look at the high level execs’ moves is they’re outsourcing their own careers…. So, will your boss join the outsourcers if she can’t beat ‘em? Will you? <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2553"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 22 Feb 2005 04:58:13 EST Health Care CIOs, Take Heart http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2291 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2291 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=19;ord=1907182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=19;ord=1907182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>We’ve written extensively in <i>CIO</i> about the need for electronic medical records (EMR) and the digitizing of the health care field. Our refrain has pretty much always been, as Senior Editor Sarah D. Scalet put it a year and a half ago in <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/080103/saving.html"><b>Saving Money, Saving Lives</b></a>: <blockquote>CIOs are at the center of this tug-of-war. They’re the ones who must drive this transformation, delivering systems without incurring dangerous downtime or allowing medical files to fall into the wrong hands.</blockquote> Well, CIOs, take heart. CEOs think they’re the ones who must drive. So maybe you can rely on them for some support. <i><b>Chief Executive</b></i> magazine’s February story, <b><a href="http://www.chiefexecutive.net/depts/technology/205b.htm" target=_new>Health Care’s Paper Chase</a></b>, lays the charge at the feet of CEOs. In fact, by their lights, “concerned CEOs, working in groups as well as on their own, are trying to drag the industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century.” Before you laugh, the story does portray the kickers and screamers as the users of the systems, not so much the implementers (i.e., you). <p> Budget issues are still going to be a bear. "Creating such a system raises the expensive prospect of, at best, fixing legacy computer systems and, more likely, creating a new IT infrastructure, then overhauling archaic business and clinical processes," acknowledges <i>Chief Executive</i>, but gives examples of companies who’ve bitten the bullet and gotten a payoff. <p> The story includes a tip list of “What CEOs Can Do.” Worth sharing, if you see this article before your CEO does. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=2291"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 11 Feb 2005 04:33:52 EST IE Competitor Wins Hearts and Desktops http://www.cio.com/blog_view.htm?CID=2066 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.htm?CID=2066 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The Jan. 31 <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_06/b3919140_mz070.htm" target=_new><b>Businessweek</b></a> reviews the open source browser Firefox. Glowingly. In a nutshell, the story says: “The Good: It’s quick, easy to use, and virus-resistant. The Bad: Nada. The Bottom Line: The rare software program that just makes you happy.” In an October <a href="http://www2.cio.com/research/security/edit/a09082004.html"><b>Alarmed</b></a> column, <i>CIO</i>’s Scott Berinato already outlined the security advantages of Firefox. <P> Indeed, you have to look hard to find anyone with any gripes about the browser beyond 1) some sites using proprietary Microsoft technologies aren’t fully compatible and 2) some functions taken for granted in Internet Explorer need to be added on as extensions. (<a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758849,00.asp" target=_new><b>PC Magazine</b></a> today lists the top 15 extensions.) <p> Organizational policy aside, Firefox may become the de facto browser at your company. The rave reviews and ease of installation make it sure to find a home in your environment, with or without your blessing. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.htm?CID=2066"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 02 Feb 2005 01:57:25 EST Who’s Selling Whom? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1549 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1549 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Finally, the <I><B>Wall Street Journal</B></I> has declared that it’s the buyers who are calling the shots when it comes to technology spending. In <A HREf="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110556230093424405,00.html" target="_blank"><B>The Revolt of the Corporate Consumer</B></A>, WSJ says businesses are now "wrangling for better prices, demanding software that’s more reliable and secure, and resisting software companies’ push for constant -- and expensive -- upgrades." <P> What’s more, it’s a trend that isn’t going to go backwards. "They’re economic tectonic plates and they’re moving," says one venture capitalist. <P> You knew that (at least since our June 2003 piece, <A HREf="http://www.cio.com/archive/060103/vendor.html">No Tolerance for High Maintenance</A>. But isn’t it nice for the CEO to read it too. Finally. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1549"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 19 Jan 2005 09:07:05 EST Macroeconomics http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1406 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1406 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=22;ord=2207182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=22;ord=2207182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>This is a little bit at odds with my previous post, "A Good Time to Shop." In its January/February issue of <a href="http://www.conference-board.org/articles/atb_article.cfm?id=293&pg=1" target=_new><b>Across the Board</b></a>, the Conference Board summarizes the economic outlook for the coming year: The U.S. economy will continue on its path to recovery in 2005, it says, but the global economy can’t keep looking toward American consumers for indefinite support. <p> This is not unlike economist <A href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=541"><b>Jeffrey Garten’s comments</b></a> at a CIO event in November, 2004. The bit on IT spending is also reflected in the <a href="http://www2.cio.com/techpoll/report/0105_techreport.html"><b>CIO Tech Poll</b></a>, which tracks technology spending trends. So business investment will continue to be a major driving force, the Conference Board says, with double-digit growth rates, fueled by huge cash flows and a search for growth. The investment will comprise spending on information and communications technology and in the service sector generally, as well as spending on traditional plant and equipment in non-technology-related manufacturing that has languished for some time. These and other factors would normally make the outlook very promising, but the article says, “In the current context, however, there are underlying trends that are deeply troubling.” It goes on to explain (China’s looming power, consumer’s leveraged credit, national debt, etc.). <p> Executives (CIOs <i>and</i> CEOs) who tend to look beyond the next few quarters may end up conducting business more cautiously than the current conditions would seem to warrant. Your macroeconomic acumen may be figuratively stashed with your old school notes, but it’s probably worth dusting off. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1406"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 13 Jan 2005 05:12:15 EST A Good Time to Shop http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1208 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1208 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)"Low prices and the need to replace at least some old gear and upgrade big software systems are pushing many businesses into spending mode." That’s what <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2005/tc2005015_8019_tc119.htm?campaign_id=nws_techn_jan7&link_position=link4" target=_new><b>BusinessWeek</b></a> said earlier this week. The article quotes our own <a href="http://www2.cio.com/techpoll/index.cfm"><b>Tech Poll Survey</a></b> where respondents anticipated spending growth, and adds: “Rising demand is fueled by rock-bottom pricing, even though prices usually tend to move higher during an economic recovery." The story quotes Mort Rahimi, CIO of Northwestern University, saying, "Right now, it’s a buyer’s market. We can get very, very good prices.” <p> Good news if you have a budget skirmish ahead. On the other hand, experts in the story indicate a lot of spending will go to ERP, which is “finally coming into its own.” That may be good or bad, as you’ll find reading my colleague Chris Koch’s <a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?ID=341"><b>IT Strategy blog</b></a>, particularly his entries called <a href= "http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=935"><b>The ERP Pickle</b></a> and <b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1108">Competition Is Good. But Does It Exist?</a></b> As <I>BusinessWeek</I> says, “Life will be good for ERP vendors such as SAP and Oracle.” <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1208"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Fri, 07 Jan 2005 04:22:06 EST Your Place in the Blogosphere http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1148 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1148 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Trying not to be shamelessly self-aggrandizing here... this week’s <b><I>Fortune</I></b> magazine carries an amusing and cautionary story on the inevitability and importance of blogs. <p> <b><a href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,1011763-1,00.html" target=_new>Why There’s No Escaping the Blog</b></a> talks about the freewheeling bloggers who can make or break your business with the supremely accessible and downright viral nature of online self-publishing, and also about how corporations are approaching and even embracing the blog. <p> It mentions Robert Scoble, Microsoft’s "software evangelist" whose own blog, <b><a href="http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/" target=_new>Scobleizer</b></a>, opines daily on issues in the tech worldespecially the world of Microsoft. As <I>Fortune</I> says, it’s “nothing too profound or insightful, yet Scobleizer has given the Microsoft monolith something it has long lacked: an approachable human face.” <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1148"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 06 Jan 2005 11:53:27 EST Tech Investing Forecasts http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1015 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1015 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=25;ord=2507182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=25;ord=2507182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>BusinessWeek gathered together some S&P analysts to ask them about their 2005 outlook for key tech industry segments, along with their favorite stocks. Even if you’re not investing your Christmas bonus yet, here’s a good chance to figure out which vendors are getting thumbs up from the investing pros -- and where your IT budget dollars might have more punch this year. <P> BW’s <A HREF="http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2004/pi20041223_6952_pi044.htm?c=bwtechdec28&n=link4&t=email" target"_blank=new"><B>Tech Outlook 2005</B></A> covers chips (the S&Pers like Maxim Integrated Products and Linear Technology), telecom (top picks include Verizon, CenturyTel and Canada-based BCE) and wireless-telecom equipment-makers (Qualcomm and Motorola get the top nod). (Free registration required to view BusinessWeekOnline.) <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=1015"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 28 Dec 2004 07:49:56 EST Pod Prods http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=936 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=936 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Today’s <b><I>Boston Globe</I></b> is just one of many daily news outlets (like <b><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/08/podcasting/" target=_new>CNN.com</a></b> and the U.K.’s <b><a href= "http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1410081,00.html" target=_new>Times</b></a>) or weekly magazines (like <b><a href= "http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2004/nf20041217_8524_db086.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily" target=_new>BusinessWeek</a></b>) to have broached the topic of <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting" target=_new>podcasting</a></b>. The <I>Globe</I>’s <a href= "http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/12/20/through_ipod_technology_anyone_can_be_a_broadcaster/" target=_new><b>front page story </b></a> pins the trend on flourishing sales of Apple’s iPod music devices. Somewhat like an audio weblog that users download to their iPod (or similar device) podcasting has also been called “TiVo for radio.” <p> According to the <I>Globe</I>, “If Internet-based weblogs turned everyone into a potential newspaper columnist, and digital cameras let them become photojournalists, podcasting is promising to let everyone with a microphone and a computer become a radio commentator.” <p> It can be done by corporations or motivated individuals. (When the word first came to our attention here, we thought, “Do CIO.com readers want podcasting?” Pardon our presumption, but we decided it was safe to wait awhile. Please let us know if you feel otherwise!) There are few mass-market podcast programs at the moment, but Boston’s public radio station WGBH says podcast segments of its show <b><a href= "http://www.wgbh.org/schedules/program-info?program_id=1434912" target=_new>Morning Stories</a></b> has grown 12,000-fold in two months (i.e., from five downloads to 60,000). <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=936"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 20 Dec 2004 09:58:47 EST CEOs’ Top Concerns in 2005 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=909 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=909 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)What are the top challenges facing CEOs in 2005? Well, 30 percent of them directly involve IT. At least according to the December issue of <b><I>Chief Executive</b></I> magazine, whose top ten CEO challenges include beating the cyber threat, adopting open source technology, and rethinking outsourcing. Each challenge is accompanied by a story. <p> The tagline for the article <b><a href= http://www.chiefexecutive.net/mag/204/index.html#2 target=_new>Beating the Cyber Threat</a></b> says, "CEOs must invest in a new generation of IT." Hurray! But you can pretty much stop reading there, because the article just goes on to list some down-the-road needs for enhanced security (like new infrastructure), and recommends consortia of academics, industry experts and policy makers to handle the R&D and rule-making. The author explains the current patchy nature of security and calls for a more holistic approach. He says, "Security is often considered just ’overhead,’ but if one were able to quantify the economic impact and the ROI for information technology, there would be a lot more justification for building in security in products, services and systems from the very beginning, rather than adding them in later." (For more on the need to measure the value of security, see sister publication CSO magazine’s articles <b><a href="http://www.csoonline.com/read/080103/undercover.html">Value Proposition</a></b> and <b><a href= http://www.csoonline.com/talkback/091404.html”>How Do You Communicate the Value of Security?</b></a>.) <p> The CEO of <b><a href=http://www.novell.com target=_new>Novell</a></b>, Jack Messman, wrote <b><a href= "http://www.chiefexecutive.net/mag/204/index.html#5" target=_new>Adopting Open-Source Software</a></b>. Make of that what you will, because Novell has introduced some open source based services, but he says 2005 will be the year open source comes into its own, because "viable open-source software based on Linux is now becoming widely available to corporate users, both at the server and the desktop level. Choice is returning to information technology. CEOs need to understand this so they can free their chief information officers from Microsoft’s grip." (See our Analyst Report <b><a href="http://www2.cio.com/analyst/report1489.html">Is Open Source Appropriate for Your IT Strategy?</b></a>) <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=909"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:07:27 EST CFO’s Pet Project http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=882 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=882 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=28;ord=2807182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=28;ord=2807182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>So your boss is the CFO? This blog’s for you, too. This month’s <b><I>CFO</b></I> magazine carries a story called <a href="http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3419652/1/c_3423194?f=magazine_featured" target=_new><b>In the Fast Lane</a></b>, suggesting CFOs may be hot to update something near and dear to their hearts. “While most companies have modernized, digitized, and otherwise Webified their transactional systems,” <I>CFO</I> observes, “the [budget and planning] process remains frozen in time.” The magazine quotes a <a href= "http://www.ventanaresearch.com/" target=_new><b>Ventana Research</b></a> survey of U.S. companies with 1,000 or more employees, which found that “71 percent of the respondents intend to make significant changes in their budgeting and planning in the next two years. For many, those changes will involve deploying dedicated Web-based B&P systems.” <p> The biggest roadblock probably won’t be selecting a vendor (likely candidates being <a href="http://www.hyperion.com" target=_new><b>Hyperion</b></a>, <b><a href= "http://www.cognos.com" target=_new>Cognos</a></b>, <b><a href= "http://www.frxsoftware.com" target=_new>FRx</a></b>, <b><a href= "http://www.geac.com" target=_new>Geac</b></a>, and <b><a href= "http://www.sas.com" target=_new>SAS Institute</b></a>) or getting the thing set up (after all, that’s <i>your</i> job), but “convincing staffers to give up their beloved spreadsheets,” as <I>CFO</I> puts it. You can score big there, too, if you have some strategies for helping to get user buy-in. <p> To get learned on the topic, check out <b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/091502/win.html">How to Win Friends and Influence Users</a></b> from the <I>CIO</I> magazine archives, and <b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/120104/change.html">Time to Change</a></b> from the current issue. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=882"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 06 Dec 2004 05:23:59 EST Cisco’s Man Is Everywhere http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=846 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=846 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The CEO of Cisco is the focus of stories in the current <b><I>Fortune</b></I> and in this month’s <b><I>American Way</I></b> magazine. (He’s also offered as a model in Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan’s new book <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1400050847/ciomagazineA/" target="_new">Confronting Realities</a></b>, which we <b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/111504/book.html">excerpt</a></b> in the Nov. 15 issue of <I><b>CIO</I></b> magazine.) John Chambers is an impressive and powerful guy, who has been alternately ballyhooed and maligned for his company’s rising and subsiding fortunes over the tumultuous recent years. He’s on the upswing now. <p> <I>Fortune</I>’s profile <a href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/technology/articles/0,15114,662673,00.html" target=_new><b>The Cisco Kid Rides Again</b></a> says, “for longer than just about anyone, Chambers has been talking about how the world’s voice and data networks will converge into one big system.” The long article goes in depth into Chambers’ plans for the company to enter (and soon dominate) the telecom industry. Despite evidence that network convergence is probably on the way (see this CIO.com <b><a href="http://www2.cio.com/analyst/report877.html">Analyst Report</a></b> from last year, for example), <I>Fortune</I> is reluctant to jump on the bandwagon, saying “Back in the Internet bubble [we] couldn’t get enough of his grand visions. We hung on every word….” Once burned, twice shy, they say. <p> The American Airlines’ inflight magazine story, <b><a href="http://americanwaymag.com/aw/business/feature.asp?archive_date=12/1/2004" target=_new>Chambers Law</b></a> is much more openly admiring, and quotes Chambers saying, “It has been proven that in the United States, there is a direct, one-to-one correlation between the percentage of capital expenditures on information technology (IT) and productivity increases.” That’s a nice quote to put in your pocket. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=846"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 01 Dec 2004 05:15:34 EST CEOs Need E-Mail Security http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=830 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=830 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)“CEOs need a secure messaging system that both protects information and makes it easily auditable and retrievable,” <I><B>Chief Executive</I></b> magazine tells its readers in the November issue. Moreover, it says, “the e-mail security solution needs to be easy to use, offering functions such as strong end-to-end encryption, mutual authentication and robust auditing features.” <p> The column, called <b><a href="http://www.chiefexecutive.net/depts/chiefconcern/203b.htm" target=_new>Electronic Dilemma</a></b>, mentions the dangers of unregulated e-mail use, mentioning the website called <b><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/091500/tl_forecast.html"> F***ed Company</b></a> (and its follow-on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0743228626/ciomagazineA/" target="_new"><b>book</a></b>), which shares e-mails about layoffs and other bits of info that weren’t meant to travel beyond corporate walls, as well as the more mundane <a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/021504/et_sidebar_1.html"><b>spam and virus writers</b></a> and <b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/040104/tl_phishing.html">phishers</a></b> that abuse e-mail. <p> The column is written by the CEO of a <a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/120102/et_company.html"><b>vendor</b></a> company who mentions a particular organization that solved its particular e-mail security and regulatory issues with his company’s solution. But he also raises some general questions about addressing the problem. One is whether or not to embrace <a href="http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc3850.html" target=_new><b>Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions</b></a>, a standard that requires a corporate e-mail server to issue a digital certificate to each user, and requires users to have a private key to open messages. He also says, “Standards-based security should separate encryption or ‘key’ services from authentication services, and policy management should automate auditing and reporting for end-to-end messaging security. The architecture should also enable messaging workflow and content filtering (for spam, viruses, etc.).” <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=830"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 24 Nov 2004 12:56:31 EST Do HR Innovations Help? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=722 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=722 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=31;ord=3107182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=31;ord=3107182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>Flexible hours, working at home, job sharing and training popped. Some of these practices are still used, but not to retain staff. Nowadays, it’s more likely they’re brought into play to <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/110104/survey.html"><b>keep employees from drooping</a></b> into deep despondency brought on by the flat economic landscape and the continual belt-tightening. <p> But do these HR practices actually do anything for the bottom line? As an article in the <a href="http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm0411/feature_econometrics.shtml" target=_new><b>November Stanford Business</b></A> magazine says, "After all, you’d never spend money on a machine tool or computer unless you had good reason to think you could demonstrate a reasonable return on your investment." <p> The article reports on the work of Kathryn Shaw, who took a deep look at the steel industry. After months of observation, Shaw found "that plants that used the most innovative human resource management system were rewarded with a gross annual payout of $2.24 million more annually per line than those with traditional systems." She also found that quality was enhanced and not compromised, while quantity was thus increased. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=722"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:28:26 EST IT Cover Stories http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=451 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=451 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Both <b>The Economist</b> (Oct. 30) and <b>BusinessWeek</b> (Nov. 8) have recently published IT-focused cover stories. The <I>Economist</i>’s is a more cerebral look at the current state of technology, in nine short pieces exploring "complexity." <BR><BR> BusinessWeek’s <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/toc/04_45/B39070445techbuy.htm" target=_new>Tech Buying Guide</a></B> is mostly about personal technology, but it offers a quick tour of what’s available in <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_45/b3907404.htm" target=_new>wireless data services</a>, and has a first-person account of <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_45/b3907422.htm" target=_new>A World Without Microsoft</a>. The authors wax enthusiastic about <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_45/b3907419.htm" target=_new>new lightweight laptops</a> and <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_45/b3907433.htm" target=_new>ultracompact digital cameras</a> and other gizmos. <br><Br> <I>The Economist</I>’s special section is really interesting, and not just for your CXOs: It offers insights into new or better ways to explain certain systems or sum up the evolution of some technologies to those less in-the-know than yourself. For example, in its coverage of "solutions" that vendors offer to fight complexity (<a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3307341" target=_new><b>When in Doubt, Farm It Out</b></a>), it says, "Taking the idea of Web services to its logical extreme, it is reasonable to ask why firms should continue to amass their own piles of Lego blocks, most of which will only duplicate the Lego blocks of business partners. Put differently, why have a datacenter if all you want is the data?" <a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3307327" target=_new><b>A Byte’s-Eye View of Complexity</a></b>, helps us appreciate, through a prolonged metaphor, "the chaotic complexity that rules in the computer vaults [by imagining], with a bit of anthropomorphic license, the journey of one lowly unit of digital information, or byte, as it wends its way on a routine mission through a maze of computers, routers, switches and wires." Useful and good reading. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=451"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 04 Nov 2004 06:52:46 EST Growth in Low Gear http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=422 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=422 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Today’s <b><I>New York Times</I></b> writes about a technology recovery of apparently "diminished expectations," pointing to the satisfied—or, at least, relieved—reaction on Wall Street to the pretty good profit reports that have come recently from IBM, Microsoft, eBay, Google and Amazon.com. <p> The article, <b><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/technology/26place.html?oref=login&oref=login" target=_new>A Technology Recovery in Post-Exuberant Times</b></a>, points to a long horizon of pretty good, but not great, profits for the technology sector. That’s partly an unsurprising evolution of predictable economic dynamics—namely, the maturing of an industry. But, more unique to this situation, the article also attributes the slow growth to the low-cost computing revolution. Because of the steady improvement of technology, says the <I>Times</I>, "companies can do more with less—typically by using smaller building blocks of hardware and software." Will we ever hear the end of more-with-less? If your boss is into that, you may hear a push for the smaller building blocks. <p> On a brighter note, Steven Milunovich, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, told the <I>Times</I> that the low-cost technology shift means that bargaining power (and consequently profit) swings from technology suppliers to technology users. "So from an investors’ perspective," he said, "it may be smarter to look for companies that are using technology for competitive advantage." Here’s your angle! You want to be that company, don’t you? Your CEO wants to lead the company that investors love, right? You can’t skimp on doing IT right. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=422"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 26 Oct 2004 01:37:30 EST Hidden in Plain View http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=383 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=383 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=34;ord=3407182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=34;ord=3407182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p>Early last week I was desperately searching my computer files for notes from an interview I did for a story. Maybe it was late in the day after an American League playoff game or something, but I could not remember.... What had I named it? Where had I stashed it? I tried searching for all kinds of possibilities but no luck. So it was exciting to hear, in a <a b><a href="http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3421651" target=_new>Search Engine Watch</a></b> story, about search champion Google’s introduction of a robust desktop search. <p> Your CEO may not be perusing Search Engine Watch regularly, but today’s <b>Wall Street Journal</b> carries a story on a couple of new search services, including <b><a href="http://desktop.google.com/" target=_new>Google Desktop Search</a></b>, as well as <b><a href="http://a9.com/?cookie=1" target=_new>A9</a></b> from Amazon, <b><a href="http://mysearch.yahoo.com/" target=_new>My Yahoo Search</b></a> and <b><a href="http://clusty.com/" target=_new>Clusty</b></a>. The article, <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109830806220851072,00.html?mod=technology%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs" target=_new>These Services Search Beyond the Internet and Offer New Formats</a></b>, reviews the virtues and complications of these products. What it doesn’t mention are privacy or security concerns with any of them. <p> With the desktop search tools, the initial flush of "Wow, I’ll never be able to hide a file from myself again!" is cooled by the realization that you can’t hide it from anyone else either should they get access to your computer. As our own CIO here said, "If I get up to get a cup of coffee and don’t lock my screen, someone can find <I>anything</I> on my PC within seconds—docs, spreadsheets, business plans, browser history, slides.... Admittedly, a snooper could find this stuff anyway, but what might have taken an hour to find before (requiring sustained access to your PC) can be done in remarkably short order; that is, as long as it takes to grab a cup of coffee." <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=383"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 21 Oct 2004 03:07:32 EST Where Does IT Go in a Supply Chain Overhaul? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=361 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=361 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)If your boss reads the story in the current issue of <b>Fortune</b> about Avon’s supply chain rehab, be sure she reads it to the end. Because it’s in the last two or three paragraphs of the 2,664-word book excerpt <b><a href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/subs/columnist/0,15704,724443,00.html" target=_new>Avon Gets Its (Supply Chain) Makeover</a></b> that the glowing report on Avon’s turnaround mentions IT. Which appears to be the one shadow on the otherwise courageous, ambitious, laborious and successful reworking of the global company’s supply chain from end to end. <P> The authors say: <blockquote>The company was determined that its supply chain transformation be process-driven, not systems-driven. Instead of overhauling its computer systems, the company wanted to get its processes right first. The leadership team felt that doing both at once would be unmanageable. Aside from creating the central data repository and the web-based system for suppliers, systems upgrades were put on hold—even though Avon’s country-based entrepreneurial model had resulted in a jumble of systems. </blockquote> That has admittedly caused problems and frustrations, and apparently "Avon has begun designing a global platform to replace the existing system and support the new processes." <P> IT folks might think it better to consider all of that before the rejiggering of suppliers and fabrication plants and bottle designs. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=361"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 19 Oct 2004 03:29:54 EST Gridwork http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=302 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=302 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<b>Businessweek</b> makes the declaration this week: Grid computing is going mainstream. No longer just the province of ineffable projects listening for peeps from the outer universe (see <a href="http://www.kintera.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=178025" target=_new>The SETI Institute</a>’s page for info on one of the earliest and best known grid computing projects), it’s being used by organizations as varied as the U.S. Tennis Association, Axciom and brokerage Charles Schwab. <P> <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_42/b3904107_mz063.htm" target=_new><B>Getting a Grip on Grid Computing</B></a> quotes a Forrester Research study of 149 large North American companies: 37 percent have set up grids and 30 percent are actively considering it. More compellingly, the story talks about the savings. C. Alex Dietz, Acxiom’s CIO, said he cut his annual data analysis expenses in half by switching from a single $2 million mainframe-style computer to a grid of cheap servers running the Linux operating system. <P> The word of warning at the end, the very end: The technologies are immature, security must be improved and all the standards aren’t yet in place. But of course a visionary CEO might determine that the road to the bright and glorious future starts with steps into the immature unknown. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=302"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 14 Oct 2004 06:57:42 EST Tip O’ the Finger http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=300 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=300 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<p align="right"><a href="http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=37;ord=3707182005133846?"/><img src="http://ad.doubleclick.net/ad/idg.us.cio.rss/44/;pos=center;sz=336x280;tile=37;ord=3707182005133846?" border="0" height="280" width="336" align="right"/></a></p><b>The Wall Street Journal</b> reports that fingerprint readers are getting so much cheaper now that many businesses are turning to them for identification, access control and even payment systems. In <b><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109744462285841431,00.html?mod=technology%5Ffeatured%5Fstories%5Fhs" target=_new>Cash, Credit—or Prints?</b></a>, the Journal notes that market-research firm International Biometric Group predicts that sales will rise 86 percent to $368 million this year. It outlines print-based systems in place at several businesses, from Corporate Safe Specialists to Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. Makes it look very efficient indeed. <p> Prints aren’t a panacea, the Journal acknowledges. Besides the expected privacy issues, the scanners don’t always work well in all cases. Tiny fingers, excessive pressure or especially dry skin make readings less reliable. Still, proponents say that improved software will eventually do away with these scanning issues. Privacy, as we’ve noted here before, will apparently have to fend for itself. <p> So, it looks like we’ll either be putting our body parts on machinery, or machinery in our body parts. See our brief report last month on <a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/091504/et_development.html"><b>transhumanism</a></b>. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=300"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 12 Oct 2004 07:19:23 EST Wiki Way to Go? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=284 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=284 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)There’s a buzz about wikis this week. The Oct. 6 issue of <b>BusinessWeek</b> reports on the debut of California startup JotSpot (<a href="http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/oct2004/tc2004106_2351.htm"target=_new><b>Do-It-Yourself Software For All?</b></a>), which offers a wiki-based Web service to allow nonprogrammers "to quickly write customized Web programs for managing customer support, tracking job candidates, and the like." <p> Wikis got their name from Hawaiian shuttle buses called wiki-wikis, meaning "quick." To date, most of these instant websites that many people can revise, update and append with new information have been document- and text-based. JotSpot’s difference is in letting people build—Lego style—Web applications for themselves, according to the <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041006/sfw011_1.html"target=_new><b>Yahoo!Finance</b></a> coverage of the debut. <I>Investor’s Business Daily</I> reports that JotSpot’s wikis will be sold as a hosted software application, integrated with e-mail, real-time news feeds from the Web and wysiwyg (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) editing and publishing tools. <p> <a href="http://www3.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=124229"target=_new><B>Gartner</B></a> calls wikis "electronic blackboards" that enable groups of users to collaborate easily on online documents—and says they are receiving increased attention from enterprises. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=284"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 07 Oct 2004 07:30:26 EST A CEO in Charge of Technology? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=283 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=283 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The October issue of <b>Chief Executive</b> magazine features Home Depot’s CEO Bob Nardelli as the cover boy. And why? Because he is spending big on technology. In <b><a href="http://www.chiefexecutive.net/mag/202/index.html" target=_new>The Depot Goes Digital</a></b>, the magazine says Nardelli has borrowed from the playbook of his former employer, GE, "to create a system of checks and balances on how technology is managed, and he has integrated technology decisions deeply into his business strategy." <p> Nardelli brought some key players from GE to fill his high level ranks, and for CIO they picked Bob DeRodes, who had been technology whiz at AMR’s Sabre Group. While those quoted in the story say DeRodes is "operationally" equal at the table, and not just a backroom guy, Nardelli advises fellow CEOs to not place the entire decision-making process in the hands of a CIO. As Nardelli told <I>Chief Executive</I>, "You want a CIO at the table next to your chief merchandising officer, your chief operations officer, your financial officer, your human resources officer, because you want him to say, ’OK, what is the best prioritization for the business?’" The relationships Nardelli set up are explained in some detail. <p> <I>Chief Executive</I> thinks the Nardelli model may help establish a pattern for other CEOs who have been "deeply frustrated by their lack of success in harnessing technology." In short, he is using technology to force sweeping changes in business processes, rather than just bolting new technologies onto existing ways of doing things. It’s a glowing tale of leadership prowess, set up as a shining example. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=283"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 06 Oct 2004 07:27:08 EST Where Talk Is Cheap http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=275 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=275 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The print version of October’s <b>Business 2.0</b> contains a fancy foldout section on the hottest technologies of 2004 (page 107). The magazine selects a "technology of the year" and seven runners-up (including one "comeback": Bluetooth). This year’s big winner? Internet telephony. <P> To quote <b><a href="http://www.business2.com/b2/hottech/toptech" target=new>The Hottest Technologies of 2004</b></a>: "This year’s winner is snuffing out business models like so many sputtering candles, rewiring the entire telecom industry." Internet telephony (or voice over IP—VoIP) has been around for five years (here’s what we said about <b><a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/101598/et.html">it in 1998</b></a>), so why is it now the hot ticket? Even though 22 percent of Americans have broadband connections, <I>Business 2.0</I> points out that VoIP can be a win for corporate offices, "which are already replacing expensive, analog PBX boxes with cheap, digital IP-based ones." <p> The magazine’s criteria for hottest technologies included ones that started changing the rules and attracting customers in the past 12 months; they weren’t necessarily invented this year, but they "arrived." (Runners-up include stallite radio, open source databases, concept mapping, RNA interference, credit risk modeling, multicore processors, and, as stated, Bluetooth.) Do you agree with their choices? Is VoIP rocking your world? <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=275"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 30 Sep 2004 12:29:19 EST RFID in Your Future http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=258 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=258 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)According to Marc D. Osofsky, vice president of marketing for Oat Systems, RFID is here. "People are realizing that they will have to run their businesses this way, and they are starting to live with it," he told <I><B>The New York Times</B></I> on Monday. Well, hmm, Oat Systems <I>is</I> an RFID vendor, but the <I>Times</I> story, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/27/technology/27rfid.html" target=_new><b>What’s in the Box? Radio Tags Know That, and More</b></a>, would suggest he’s on track. <p> IBM is investing $250 million over the next five years and employing 1,000 people in a new business unit to support products and services related to RFID and other sensor networks. Wal-Mart has been famously first to drive the technology (see <I>CIO</I>’s <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/120103/retail.html"><b>The RFID Imperative</b></a>, from last December about retailers leading the way), as has the Department of Defense. The <I>Times</I> mentions that Hewlett-Packard, which has been using RFID on its own products and providing consulting services to others, has said it now has 350 consultants on the task, as well as 1,000 other employees working on various aspects of RFID. <p> But it’s not all sunshine in RFID land. Many of RFID’s uses raise privacy concerns, and lawmakers have legislation underway to <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/061504/tl_rfid.html"><b>limit RFID use</b></a>. But, as Institute for the Future’s director Paul Saffo told <I>CIO</I> last fall, <a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/092203/saffo.html"><b>convenience trumps privacy</b></a>. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=258"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 28 Sep 2004 07:32:29 EST Goes Around Comes Around http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=256 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=256 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)And around and around. Apparently, India is outsourcing some of its backlog of work—sometimes even back to the United States. According to <a href="http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3127498/c_3148382" target=_new><b>The Farthest Shore</b></a>, an article in the September issue of <I><B>CFO</B></I> magazine, Indian telecom Bharti Televentures has outsourced all of its hardware, software and services to IBM (in France and the United States). The main thrust of the article is how India’s days as top outsourcing dog are numbered because incomes and worker expectations there inevitably will rise. And then the next hotspot will emerge, and likewise give way to a yet cheaper new hotspot. <p> Some of those spots are closer to home. Depressed manufacturing centers such as Detroit and Cleveland, as well as tired logging towns like Olympia, Wash., and Lewiston, Me., have plenty of unemployed, less-skilled workers ready to sit at call centers and the like for a decent, if not grand, wage. At-home outsourcing clearly offers advantages of political stability and sturdy infrastructure, plus beams a good corporate image. <p> The increasing number of destinations now made feasible by advances in grid computing, Web services and voice over IP telephone connections, and the worldwide need for work gives force to a trend of "more nuanced outsourcing strategies," as <I>CFO</I> puts it. A company might have a call center in Argentina and Canada, help desk in Hungary and programming in India. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=256"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 27 Sep 2004 06:29:08 EST You’re Ahead of the Game http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=253 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=253 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)If you’re a regular reader of CIO.com, you probably remember our Sept. 1 story, <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/090104/phish.html"><b>Fighting Phish, Fakes and Frauds</b></a>, but it seems the scourge of phishing is just reaching some of the mainstream business press. <b>Forbes</b> reports on the phenomenon in its Oct. 4 issue, in a story called <a href="http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2004/1004/088.html" target=_new>Cybercon</b></a> (page 88). It doesn’t offer up any radically new information, but after explaining the whys and wherefores of phishing, does end with these words: <I>And the consumers have to take some of the blame. There wouldn’t be much phishing if they didn’t take the bait.</I> <p> Incidentally, Monday’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/20/technology/20phish.html" target=_new><b>New York Times</b></a> and Wednesday’s <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2004/09/22/2003203898" target=_new><b>Taipei Times</b></a> both report on the phishing frenzy as well, particularly mentioning the spate of spoofs on Citibank sites. (Free registration required by <I>NYT</I>.) <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=253"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 23 Sep 2004 07:35:50 EST Where to Go Next http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=252 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=252 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<I>The challenges of succeeding in emerging markets are forcing the Western powers to come up with bold new strategies. They’re under pressure to innovate like crazy, pioneer new ways of doing business, and outmaneuver their feisty new competitors.</I> <BR><BR> That’s what <I>BusinessWeek</I> says in the international cover story for its Sept. 27 issue. The story, portentiously called <a href=http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_39/b3901013.htm target=_new><b>Tech’s Future</b></a>, mostly talks about technology companies’ entry into developing economies. The story is both optimistic about the promise of fresh new markets—millions and millions of poor people just waiting to become consumers like us—and full of warning about how those new markets may shake some giants from their pedestals as they have to adapt and compete in unfamiliar arenas. Giants like Intel, Cisco, IBM, even Microsoft are being forced to compete against smaller, nimbler local companies that sometimes have close ties to their governments. The future will include new ways to get traditionally pricey and sophisticated products to the huge untapped markets where cash is tight and infrastructure unreliable. Hewlett-Packard, for instance, rents equipment with solar chargers to itinerant photographers who make a good living in remote villages. That’s not part of what you’d think of as HP’s core business, but, the story suggests, mold-breaking approaches are going to win the day. If you’ve got an idea that’d help your company break into a so-far-untouched market, it might do your reputation good to voice it. <BR><BR> <p> For an interesting twist on difficulties in entering global markets, check out <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/050101/passport_baker.html"><b>Websites, Alphabytes</b></a> from our archives. The ABCs could cause you trouble! <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=252"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 22 Sep 2004 12:17:49 EST Out and Back http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=250 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=250 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Both <a href=http://www.thestreet.com/_excite/tech/hardware/10183087.html?cf=WSIWON1111051500 target=_new><b>thestreet.com</b></a> and <a href=http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/15/technology/morgan_ibm.reut/ target=_new><b>CNNMoney.com</b></a> as well as other news outlets last week reported that <B>J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.</B> had canceled its $5 billion outsourcing deal with IBM. After J.P. Morgan Chase’s $58 billion acquisition of Bank One in July, the financial services giant seems to be following Bank One’s practice of bringing information technology in-house. Bank One decided on that route a few years ago and has since spent over $1 billion to upgrade its entire technology suite, including building data centers. For 4,000 J.P. Morgan workers who had been transferred onto IBM’s payroll, that philosophy and the cancellation of the IBM deal means they will rejoin the bank. The divorce appears to be without recriminations, as IBM says it expects its stock price to go up, indicating it wasn’t as sweet a deal for them as might have been expected. <p> This isn’t the first time anybody’s rethought the outsourcing plan and realized the work could be better (or more economically) done at home. (See <I>CIO</I>’s story from last year, <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/030103/home.html" target=_new><b>Bringing I.T. Home</b></a>, which shows how three CIOs brought outsourced work back into the fold—and how reinsourcing saved money.) The Morgan Chase one, however, is a rather large and public reversal of direction that might get some folks thinking. <p> Meantime, if outsourcing is a topic of conversation at your organization, check out our Consultants’ Briefing from BearingPoint, <a href=http://www2.cio.com/consultant/report2915.html target=_new><b>Optimization Through Outsourcing</b></a>, which may help you determine the best course of sourcing for your company. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=250"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 20 Sep 2004 12:38:28 EST Wi-Fi Alternative http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=246 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=246 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)<B>Forbes.com</b> has an awfully cheerful article called <a href="http://www.forbes.com/home/enterprisetech/2004/09/15/cx_de_0915cellular.html"target=_new><b>The Wireless Workplace Goes Cellular</b></a> that touts the billions spent on upgrading networks to handle greater amounts of traffic. That upgrade means, theoretically, workers can get online anywhere they can get a cellular signal. Outfitting corporate road warriors’ notebook computers with cellular access cards could not only make their lives easier, the story says, but cut costs and increase efficiency. Cellular data services are not as fast as Wi-Fi (the story doesn’t discuss security issues), but they provide a cheap, efficient alternative. <I>Forbes</I> writes, "Cellular even helps users improve the quality of their time off," and quotes the chief operating officer of Houston-based financial consulting firm John M. Floyd & Associates, who recently used it on a boat trip to Key West. "We stayed in contact the whole time," she says. "If you had wireless, you wouldn’t be able to do that, you’d have to go to a Starbucks or something." Hm. You might want to think twice about putting that access card in your own computer if you’ve got a vacation coming up. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=246"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 15 Sep 2004 07:07:04 EST More of What India’s Doing http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=245 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=245 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Will infrastructure-management services be "the next big wave" of Indian outsourcing deals? This week <I>The Economist</I> looks at that question with a story called <a href="http://www.economist.com/printedition/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=3177136"target=_new><b>The Latest in Remote Controls</b></a>. Although infrastructure management is now just a small portion of the country’s overall outsourcing revenue($300 million out of $12 billion), the <I>Economist</I> says the potential is huge, and quotes a report by Deutsche Bank that puts the entire size of the global infrastructure-management market at $86 billion. Deutsche Bank and Gartner are bullish on the growth of the service, predicting the market to swell to $1 billion in three years. And India’s IT industry lobbying group NASSCOM says $1.5 billion to $2 billion in five years. Still, the story seems to conclude that the move toward outsourcing infrastructure management will be a rising tide rather than a tsunami. Perhaps giving CIOs time to prepare for the bandwagon’s coming. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=245"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Tue, 14 Sep 2004 10:43:47 EST Retailers, More Channels Please http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=243 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=243 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The concept of multichannel selling isn’t new. But its prominence in a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB109416964918308861,00.html?mod=mm%5Fmedia%5Fmarketing%5Fhs%5Fleft" target=_new><b>Wall Street Journal</b></a> story last week may push it to the front of the minds in the executive suite. According to the <I>Journal</I>, a recent study by Forrester Research found that customers who shop three different ways—in stores, on websites and with catalogs—spend about four times more than customers who shop only through one of those channels. That trend spells a push for integration. Be prepared, if you’re in retail, to be contemplating Web kiosks in stores, allowing in-store pick-up of Web orders, enabling multiple payment methods, coordinating coupon distribution, and developing systems to track all that criss-crossing activity. For a recent case study on retail channel integration, see <I>CIO</I>’s May story, “<b><a href= "http://www.cio.com/archive/051504/rei.html">How REI Scaled E-Commerce Mountain</a></b>.” (Subscription needed to access <I>The Wall Street Journal</I> online; story in Sept. 3 edition, page A7.) <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=243"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 09 Sep 2004 09:29:50 EST In Synch? Get Psyched. http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=242 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=242 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Investors tend to reward companies that run synchronized supply chains. Don’t take it from me; that came from the chairman and CEO of UPS. Granted, supply chain services are UPS’s stock in trade, but in a <a href= http://www.chiefexecutive.net/depts/chiefconcern/201a.htm target=_new><b>column</a></b> in the current issue of <I>Chief Executive</I> magazine, UPS’s Mike Eskew backs up that statement with numbers, citing an Accenture study that found that, from 1995 to 2000, the companies with the best-run supply chains had stock market capitalization rates that were 7 to 26 percent above industry averages.<br><br> Eskew talks about supply chains "setting business free," but his description of their role is more likely to set supply chains free. We ought not call it <I>supply chain management</I> anymore, he suggests, but rather <I>synchronized commerce</I>. Ahh, the relief. Now it is strategic—the province of CEOs! In fact, Eskew concedes: "Can you blame CEOs for thinking that supply chains are the province of the logistics department? After all, supply chains are tactical. They’re sweaty. They require mind-numbing attention to detail." (Of note, a <I>CIO</I> <a href= http://www.cio.com/archive/120103/peer.html><b>column</b></a> by Network Services’ CIO last year notes that <I>supply chain management</I> was already a semantic improvement over <I>sellin’, warehousin’ and truck drivin’</I>.) UPS’s Eskew lays out the benefits of synchronized commerce and makes it clear why the CEO should care. <br><br> And he says more and more of them do care. That may include yours. If it doesn’t, and you’ve been struggling to get support for supply chain investments, you might want to push the Sept. issue of <I>Chief Executive</I> across your boss’s desk. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=242"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 02 Sep 2004 09:25:11 EST MBA Dreams http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=232 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=232 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)It’s quite likely that your boss has an MBA. CIO.com’s <a href="http://www.cio.com/research/executive/counselor.html"><b>executive career counselors</b></a> are pretty unanimous in recommending that path for any upwardly mobile IT worker. Two years ago, however, a <a href="http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/08/27/BU99160.DTL" target=_new><b>Stanford University study</b></a> suggested that MBAs were overrated. Since then, prominent guys like Guy Kawasaki (an MBA and the CEO of venture capital outfit Garage Technology Ventures) have told outlets like <a href="http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2004/03/17/cx_gk_0317artofthestart.html" target=_new><b>Forbes</a></b> the same thing. <BR><BR> The Graduate Management Admission Council (an association of business schools) begs to differ (naturally). Its <a href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040610/cgth030_1.html" target =_new><b>Global MBA Graduate Survey 2004</b></a> says the MBA class of 2004 rates the value of their MBA high, relative to the cost of the degree. Fifty-eight percent rate their MBA’s value as excellent or outstanding, and 30 percent rate it as good. Of course, they were all still on a graduation high when surveyed, but we won’t nitpick. <br><Br> If you want to pursue an MBA, talk it over with your CEO, who might either get misty-eyed or suspicious if she’s read that recent GMAC study and remembers the highlight: 54 percent of graduating MBAs surveyed said they were using the MBA as a means of changing career tracks. That’s backed up by comments from Electronic Arts co-founder William Gordon in the September issue of American Airlines’ in-flight magazine <I>American Way</I>. In <a href="http://www.americanwaymag.com/business/feature.asp?archive_date=9/1/2004" target=_new><b>To MBA or Not to MBA, That Is the Question</a></b>, which discusses the MBA experience with seven top-level executives from publicly traded U.S. companies, Gordon says, "It’s a very hefty investment of money and opportunity for anyone who already loves their job. <I>But it’s a great way to change tracks for someone who is bored or dead-ended</I>." [Italics ours.] <br><Br> A sidebar lists some famous (and famously wealthy) IT folks who skipped the MBA: namely Michael Dell, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. <br><br> And, an aside: The in-flight mag also features a <a href="http://www.americanwaymag.com/lifestyle/feature.asp?archive_date=9/1/2004" target=_new><b>review of new laptops</b></a> and they all sound spiffy. If your CEO flies American, don’t be surprised by queries about the Sharp Actius MM20 (for the workaholic), the Sony Vaio X505 (for the style-conscious) or the Panasonic Toughbook CF-73 (for the military or bungee-jumping boss). <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=232"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Wed, 01 Sep 2004 01:02:05 EST One Road to Growth http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=230 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=230 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)The Sept. 6 issue of <I>Fortune</I> magazine touts its list of the 100 fastest growing companies. In a story called "Lessons from the Fast Lane" (page 146), it quotes an analyst saying that growth is the number-one issue on CEOs’ minds right now. And saying that’s why it’s "critical we learn from those that get it right," the story offers profiles of six companies from the list of fastest growing, including <a href="http://www.chicos.com/store/page.asp?pageid=14&n=bb" target=_new><b>Chico’s</b></a>, the clothing retailer. The <a href="http://www.fortune.com/fortune/subs/article/0,15114,685389-4,00.html" target=_new><B>Chico’s profile</B></a> (page 152) outlines a program the company calls "bridge to a billion." A very successful frequent-shopper progam resulted in the company’s DOS-based register system reaching critical mass and crashing in about 200 stores nationwide in 1999. CEO Scott Edmonds told <I>Fortune</I>, "We didn’t see it coming. So we said, What else is going to break if we’re going to take this business from $300 million to a billion?" Well, what else? Pretty much everything IT, including, perhaps, the CIO’s back. More specifically, according to <I>Fortune</I>, the revamped program has included a new, Windows-based point-of-sale system in each store and other IT upgrades, a state-of-the-art distribution center and an expanded management team. And a rapid pace. In 2002, Chico’s moved its distribution center from its home base in Florida to a huge and highly automated facility in Georgia, and last September the company flipped the switch on its new IT platforms. And as for the CIO’s back.... <P> It’s not mentioned in the <I>Fortune</I> story, but if you follow CIO.com’s <a href="http://www2.cio.com/movers/index.cfm">Movers & Shakers</a> section, you may remember we <a href="http://www2.cio.com/movers/2004/mover1994.html?TYPE=company">reported earlier</a> in the summer that Chico’s CIO (who had been with the company since 2001) was "no longer employed by the women’s clothing retailer." The company’s current online <a href="http://www.chicos.com/store/page.asp?pageid=30&n=sb" target=_new>listing of officers</a> includes no IT personnel. (Subscription needed to access <I>Fortune</I> stories online.) <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=230"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Mon, 30 Aug 2004 04:13:42 EST Executives’ Views on IT Hurt Spending http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=207 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=207 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)That’s the title and the conclusion of an article on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2004/08/24/cx_ld_0824itspending_print.html" target="_new">Forbes.com</a> this week, which describes a recently released study from consultants <a href="http://www.bain.com/bainweb/home.asp">Bain & Co.</a> The study found that 70 percent of senior executives at large corporations agree that information technology is relevant to growth. But, at the same time, 60 percent say IT is actually inhibiting their efforts toward growth. As a result, some companies are reducing technology spending. In fact, the study found that companies where executives view IT as an enabler to growth spend 7.4 percent of revenue on IT; companies whose execs see IT as an inhibitor spend only 4.7 percent. <p> According to <I>Forbes</I>, Bain analysts say the problem comes from not having business and IT aligned — since 203 of the 359 executives surveyed said that the lack of information was a key reason they felt that IT was a growth inhibitor. If the CEOs of the world read this story and take it to heart, they may be ready to find out how to pursue that alignment. Get them started by sharing some alignment stories from our archives: <ul> <li>In a <a href="http://comment.cio.com/soundoff/102303.html">Sound Off</a> column we asked: What is standing between you and alignment? Why is it so hard? More than 30 readers posted responses. <li>In <a href="http://www.cio.com/analyst/123101_idc.html">IT/Business Alignment: Delivering Results</a>, IDC analysts suggest the need to consider six alignment perspectives to ensure the development of symbiotic relationships, with key questions to ask yourself. <li>In <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/100103/edit.html">The Biggest Threat to CIO Success</a>, <I>CIO</I> magazine’s Editor in Chief Abbie Lundberg explains why corporate IT will only be successful when all the business stakeholders agree on what is most important, and then agree on how things should be prioritized. <li>In <a href="http://www.cio.com/archive/090102/tl_numbers.html">By the Numbers</a>, research shows that aligning IT and business functions saves money. This article also links to an alignment self-assessment. </ul> Good luck! <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=207"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 26 Aug 2004 08:26:45 EST How Smart Are We? http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=208 http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=208 (<a href="http://www.cio.com/">CIO</a>)Talk about trouble with alignment. A Sept. 1 story in <a href="http://www.business2.com/b2/subscribers/articles/0,17863,675799-2,00.html"><B>Business 2.0</B></a> describes retail giant <a href="http://www.targetcorp.com/targetcorp_group/about/about.jhtml">Target</a>’s big miss on deploying credit cards with smart chips to its customers. Target began the phase-out of its less-than-one-year-old system in March, replacing smart cards with ordinary magnetic strip credit cards as customers’ cards need renewing. Although the story describes some real failures of business planning—such as relying on untested assumptions and having executives coming to meetings even after the card’s debut saying, "What’s the business case?"—it could be a glass of cold water in the face of any systemic innovation you may have in mind, particularly if it involves something "smart," or chipped. <p>It’s a cautionary tale for sure, with reports of Target spending two years and $40 million on development and implementation, only to fall back to the old dumb cards in the end. According to Catuity, the software company Target hired for the project, there were great functions developed for the card that were never "switched on." <I>Business 2.0</I> says Target got as much value from its smart cards as one gets from a Ferrari in a traffic jam. The story offers three reasons the project failed: The cost of operation was too expensive for the returns, it was too complicated for end-users and it offered too few rewards for end-users to bother. Keep these lessons in mind when defending your next project! And if you’re looking into smart cards, as <I>CIO</I>’s Chris Lindquist noted in a <a href="http://www.cio.com/online/techtact_090803.html">Tech Tact</a> column last year, they are going to struggle to take hold in the United States until fraud prompts a move to the greater security they offer. <p><a href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=208"><strong> Read More...</strong></a></p> Thu, 26 Aug 2004 02:17:26 EST