Articles

CIO Leadership

By Paula Klein, TechWeb
Six Ways to Stay Sharp in 2009
As you begin this tough new year, the list of required skills for CIOs keeps lengthening. Businesses and IT organizations are continually being revamped, and new management prowess is needed, as well. But what type?

Leading in a Regulatory Environment

By Polly Schneider Traylor, CIO Custom Solutions Group
Regulations continue to place heavy requirements on data protection, storage and recovery. Here’s how to adapt.
CIOs must create business value from IT—satisfying customers and enhancing products and strategic direction with technology-based solutions. Though it may seem mundane, compliance is equally important. Not giving it the proper attention could expose companies to legal risks and expenses, and even brand damage.

Managing Risk

By Howard Baldwin, CIO's Custom Solutions Group
Although vendor sales representatives aren't likely to admit it, every technology deployment involves risk. Here's how to minimize and manage yours.
When you buy a new car, the salesperson will tell you all the great things that your new vehicle can do. He or she will never bring up the possibility, however, that the car may one day break down, malfunction or altogether die. The same theory applies to new technology. After all, no one wants to admit that something could go wrong.

8 Ways to Assess Your Own Performance

By Paula Klein, TechWeb
CIOs are in the business of assessing the performance of IT systems and keeping them optimized at all times. But what about measuring their own professional performance and ability to meet objectives? With all the pressures on CIOs to achieve goals in multiple arenas these days, these leaders also need tools to benchmark their executive performance against others and indicate strengths and weaknesses.

Embracing Software Services

By Paula Klein, Techweb
Timothy Chou has a lot of ideas about enterprise software.
The former president of Oracle's On Demand business -- from it's formation in 1999 to 2005 -- he now sits on several corporate boards, teaches at Stanford University, and frequently speaks to business leaders and writes about software trends.

Virtualization Demands New Software Models

By Jennifer Zaino, Techweb
Software licensing models and management tools must evolve to support the dynamism of virtual machine environments.
System virtualization is becoming mainstream, according to a 2007 survey, conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., a research firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The survey found that half of the enterprises polled in North America and Europe were already using x86 server virtualization, and that percentage was expected to grow to two-thirds of all sites by 2009— resulting in a "tipping point," according to the report.

An Enterprise Architecture Strategy for SOA

By Hatay Tuna, MSDN

Key concepts, principals, and methods that architects can practically put to work immediately to help their organizations overcome these challenges and lead them through their SOA- implementation journey for better outcomes.

Enabling Business Capabilities with SOA

By Chris Madrid and Blair Shaw, MSDN

Methods and technologies to enable an SOA infrastructure to realize business capabilities, gaining increased visibility across the IT landscape

Surviving Turbulent Times: Prioritizing IT Initiatives Using Business Architecture

By Hatay Tuna, MSDN

How can you ensure that IT projects have both clear alignment with the strategic goals of the organization and a strong demonstrable impact? Read this article from Microsoft experts on the Benefits Dependency Network.

A Business Manifesto for Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation

By Ric Merrifield

We focus on process: "how" we're doing the job. And we forget about the bigger issue: "what" we're doing and why we're doing it. That's why we're leaving so much value on the table. In Rethink, business architect Ric Merrifield exposes this problem with vivid examples and introduces breakthrough techniques for overcoming it.

Business Value Assessment (BVA): Microsoft Windows 7 White Paper

This paper discusses the gap between utopian, high-functioning business models and the gains possible in current enterprise environments, and shows the value of Windows 7 as a practical, real-world performance aid.

Business Value Assessment (BVA): Microsoft Office 2010 White Paper

This paper discusses technology-related impediments to higher functioning that enterprise workers might encounter, and illustrates the use of Microsoft Office 2010 as a mitigation strategy.

Visions from the Cloud

By Polly Schneider Traylor, CIO Custom Solutions Group
When it comes to cloud computing, the skies have yet to clear: The big vendors are just starting to launch offerings, while users and analysts are simply confused. Here’s a look at the forecast.
Apparently, cloud computing is still a bit too ephemeral for the vast majority of CIOs. Only 2 percent of those from Fortune 1000 companies say that cloud or utility computing is a priority, according to a September 2008 Goldman Sachs survey on IT spending.

Complexities Drive Compliance and Security Costs

By George V. Hulme, Techweb
Managing compliance and IT risk have a common enemy: complexity.
While there are differences in how they are carried out, managing compliance and IT risk are cumbersome and go through too many corporate layers. The biggest cost sinks of managing compliance, for instance, are often redundant efforts such as conflicting policies and conducting multiple audits on the same systems and controls. The costs of managing IT risk, especially when it comes to IT security risks, also lay in the complexity of managing multiple information-security defenses.

Saying 'Yes' to Enterprise 2.0

By Paula Klein, TechWeb
While some CIOs are forging ahead, others remain reluctant about bringing consumer technologies into the corporation.
It might be appropriate to call Dr. John Halamka, the CIO at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Doctor Yes. While many CIOs struggle to find the funding, the buy-in, or the perfect timing to introduce emerging technologies to the data center, Halamka is already there. He has a track record of embracing new IT solutions to improve hospital efficiency and patient care and now he adds social networking and Web 2.0 to his toolbox.

What Technologies do CIOs Dream About?

By Karen Bannan, Techweb
More mobile products and bulletproof security top the wish list.
There's a reason people play the lottery. It gives them a chance to dream, to imagine what they might buy if Lady Luck had her way. Even in an economic downturn, and times of IT belt-tightening, CIOs need to keep innovating and staying on the leading edge. We asked four top IT executives to do a little dreaming of their own, and tell us what emerging technologies they would buy with their IT lottery winnings. Here are their answers.

Don't Let Tech–Savvy Business Execs Do An End Run Around IT

By John Soat, InformationWeek
More businesspeople think they know enough technology to bypass the CIO. Tech chiefs must step up their game or get left out.
CIOs consider it a good thing to have tech–savvy colleagues with whom they can talk turkey, for some it's a case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Senior execs, line–of–business managers, and even end users are trying to influence IT policy or, worse yet, attempting end runs around the CIO to get favorite IT projects or products deployed.

From Strategy to Practice

By Polly Schneider Traylor
You've established a green IT strategy. Now what?
So, you've worked with the business side of the house and created a blueprint for your organization's green IT strategy. You have a vision for the energy efficiencies you want to achieve, but how do you make it a reality?

Enterprise Mobile Management:
The Next Challenge

By Paula Klein, Techweb
CIOs must consider that every application is integrated in some way. Here's how to make your next broad deployment successful.
When research firm Gartner released its list of top IT trends for 2008 last December, the first five topics-power efficiency, unified communications, business process modeling, enterprise information management and virtualization-were familiar to CIOs. Still, the list also presented a clear challenge: Each of the items demands an enterprise-wide deployment.

Make Effective Enterprise-Wide Investments

By Howard Baldwin, CIO's Custom Solutions Group
CIOs must consider that every application is integrated in some way. Here's how to make your next broad deployment successful.
When research firm Gartner released its list of top IT trends for 2008 last December, the first five topics-power efficiency, unified communications, business process modeling, enterprise information management and virtualization-were familiar to CIOs. Still, the list also presented a clear challenge: Each of the items demands an enterprise-wide deployment.

Build or Buy

By Fawn Fitter, CIO Custom Solution Group
Faced with a specific software need, should you invest in a solution from a qualified vendor or ask your IT staff to build your own?
There's no single answer–and the decision process may lead you to an unexpected conclusion.

Good Governance = Holistic Security, Privacy and Compliance

By George V. Hulme, Techweb
When it to comes to keeping information secure and business technology systems within regulatory compliance, there's no standing still. Just a few years ago, the burden of managing IT security and privacy fell squarely on the shoulders of security managers and chief information security officers.

Summer Reading: Grab These Books!

by Paula Klein, TechWeb
Here's a sampling of five new titles that will help you strategize your plans, collaborate better with peers, and even offer some humor and fresh insights.
Heading out to the beach, the mountains, or the sailboat for that long-deserved getaway vacation? Although the last thing you may want to do is think about work, it might be a great time to catch up on some new business books that you've been meaning to read, or even download to your Kindle.

Finding Your Way at the Top

July, 2008
by Fawn Fitter, CIO's Custom Solution Group
Once you reach the executive suite, solid career advice is harder to find, but more important than ever.
CIOs often consider it their responsibility to help rising members of their team find mentors, or even to fill that role themselves. But from whom do CIOs seek professional feedback? The need for savvy career advice doesn't vanish when you reach the topmost layer of management-it increases.

Blogs in the Boardroom

August 4, 2008
by Jason Compton, Techweb
Consumer Technologies Creep Into the Enterprise
Web surfing, USB flash storage and blogs were first introduced to many companies by their employees—mostly young and tech savvy. As technology becomes a bigger part of daily life, corporate IT departments must keep pace, or risk being seen as laggards or even control freaks. And while most consumer–driven technologies rarely come with enterprise–grade security, they often solve problems more quickly and elegantly than many button–downed internal applications. The best IT strategy is to stay ahead of the curve.

Coping with the Sluggish Economy

August 4, 2008
by Bob Violino, Techweb
Research Shows CIOs Are Lowering Expectations for the Remainder of the Year
The sluggish economy clearly is having an impact on IT spending. Many CIOs are reconsidering large–scale projects and capital investments and are generally putting budget items to tougher scrutiny than usual. For IT chiefs, it's more important than ever to demonstrate the business value of technology and to show quick return on IT investments to senior executives.