Weighing Options: How to Best Invest Your IT Budget for an “Always On” Network
by Robert Johnson
Managing a solid infrastructure requires skilled IT people, effective processing, and advanced technology. This article examines the economics of an “always on” IT infrastructure using in-house vs. external resources and the pros and cons of each alternative.

Does Your Technology “Fit” Your Needs? By Implementing a “Life-Cycle” Process, It Will
by Charles L. Nault
How reliable is your company’s technology network? How can you be sure you have installed the right system for your needs in the first place, and that it will keep working for you, day and night, warding off viruses, breakdowns and other threats or dangers? And if your system doesn’t appear to be all it should be, how can you stanch the “bleeding” of your company’s money in lost productivity?

Phone Systems Can Save Big Money!
by John Campbell
Did you hear about the company that moved into fancy new digs? They have state of the art everything with the best of ergonomic chairs, keyboards, perfect lighting, and carpeting that will look great forever. Sound expensive doesn’t it? But for this company I should mention that the cost of their new space is cut in half.

Controlling Access to Your Network:  “NAC” Becomes a Critical Tool
by Chris Poe
It seems every time an IT team does due diligence to secure a network, another threat rears its ugly head.  For a network to be truly invulnerable, it would have to be completely closed, but those who’ve invested a fortune in technology actually expect it to be usable. This problem of IT security is much like Homeland Security.

Advice to Clients: “Build Trust Outside of Your Company”
by Charles L. Nault
Business owners need to recognize that a solid, professional relationship with a trusted partner in Information Technology can have a more dramatic, positive impact on their daily operations, and therefore their business success, more so in fact than any of the other three more traditional pillars. The following excerpt from my book provides some insights into just what that kind of relationship looks like.

Taking Advantage of Public WiFi Hotspots
by John Campbell
If you are a road warrior away from your home town you may not have an easily accessible place to find an Internet connection for your laptop enabling access to the Internet world to get your email, read reports, work on Excel spreadsheets and send off a Power Point presentation. That’s where WiFi ‘hotspots’ come into our picture. These are wireless networks that can be very convenient.

Know Your IT Stakeholder!
by Stephen E. Lipka, PhD, CMC
"Succeeding" in IT means you're a partner in the business, you're respected and sought out, and you're funded to do work that contributes to business. You can increase your chance of success by understanding your stakeholders. That starts with knowing who your stakeholders are and understanding what motivates them.

Buy or Lease Your Own Data Center?  Think About It
by Eric Blaier
Let’s look at the present environment and why it may be favorable for a company to acquire and manage its own center, and also discuss the reasons why they might wish to outsource their core data center operations.

Hiring the Right IT Guy: A Vital Component in IT Success For Your Business
by Charles L. Nault
Look at whoever is leading your IT efforts and take stock of the attributes that he or she brings to the table. The best IT leaders should have some combination of a number of these six personality traits and attributes.

Unified Communications
by John Campbell
Desktop computers, notebooks, IM (Instant Messaging), email, voice mail, PDAs, soft phones, mobile phones, video conferencing have become everyday tools. The advances in technology have in many cases done the opposite of what they were intended to do which is to improve communications.

Uncommon IT Sense - Let's Get the Business Case Right
by Rick Sidorowicz
Why do so many business-critical projects, whether done in house or outsourced, fail far too often, take too long, cost too much, and fail to achieve the business value for which they were justified and designed. A little uncommon sense is in order with six things you can do to significantly improve your business case and economic justification process and ensure your projects come in on time and on budget. (N.B. A subscription is not required to view this article.)

Uncommon IT Sense - A Better Way to Save Costs and Improve Service!
by Rick Sidorowicz
Have you slashed your IT budgets across the board indiscriminately, and suspended, delayed and limited your technology projects? You are not alone. There is no doubt that in times of uncertainty and "turbulence" you must reduce spending and get more for every dollar you spend however, consider a little “uncommon sense” to target investments in those areas that save costs without undermining capability. (N.B. A subscription is not required to view this article.)

Uncommon IT Sense for Turbulent Times, With Insights from Chaotics by Philp Kotler and John Caslione
by Rick Sidorowicz
There is a better way! Turbulent times call for more “uncommon sense” to target investments in those areas that save costs without undermining capability, and that can increase efficiency, improve productivity and yes, increase revenue. Consider the following principles and approach to strengthen your operations in turbulent times and emerge leaner, more resilient and more profitable. (N.B. A subscription is not required to view this article.)

Is Your Company Bleeding Money? Yes, if Your IT Isn’t Efficient and Aligned
by Charles L. Nault
Organizations from multi-billion dollar corporations to the community church rely entirely on their e-mail, web access, and computer applications every moment of the working day. Any company that is going to compete and thrive in this world is going to do so through the effective use of technology. The optimal word is effective.

Business Intelligence Cures the Spreadsheet Problem
by Seema Haji
The benefits of using business intelligence features with your spreadsheets are twofold.  Your company will be able to improve the accuracy of its reports in a manner that will be much more palatable to the employees and other users who work with these reports every day.  You’ll also be able to achieve more transparency into how your business works and what can be improved upon.
(N.B. A subscription is not required to view this article.)

Plugging the Data Dike
by Bill Morrow
In this critical economic environment, identity thieves are going further than ever before to steal valuable consumer, customer and business sensitive information to make a buck. As devastating as it is for individuals to deal with identity theft, it is extremely costly for businesses attacked by identity thieves or those unwillingly exposed to risk because of employee errors and poor data privacy and security policies. Here is a brief data protection and security refresher for your organization.

Why IT ROI Needs to be Rethought
Stephen E. Lipka, PhD, CMC
In the world of IT, ROI is king. But should it be? How many approved IT projects have you seen with projected returns that – in spite of the vetted calculations – you just didn’t believe? And how many projects, rejected because ROI couldn’t be calculated or proved, would have turned your company into a well-oiled machine? ROI can be a great tool, but it’s not the only mechanism for judging value.

Tech Vendors, Don't You Love 'em?
by Ade McCormack
The word alignment captures the nature of a buyer-supplier relationship. The supplier must align its offerings to the demands of the buyer. The partner relationship has an entwinement feel to it. Both parties are entwining their destinies and so become reliant on each other. I believe that we need to move beyond alignment to entwinement in respect of the business-IT department relationship.

Merge the Tribes Before the Bloodshed
by Ade McCormack
In my little world there are two tribes. They speak different languages. They try not to encroach on each other's turf. One tribe tells the other what to do. The other tribe, unable to defend itself, reluctantly does what it is told. These tribes are more commonly known as users and technologists.

Is Your CIO Boardroom Ready?
by Ade McCormack
You recognize the need for some IT muscle in the top team. But are you sure the incumbent CIO is boardroom-ready? Don't leave it to chance. Test-drive your CIO with the following scenarios. How the CIO reacts will tell you all you need to know.

The IT Value Stack - Process Entwinement between IT and Business
by Ade McCormack
The IT department should influence the business processes as much as the user community. Some would argue that, as a "supplier", the IT department should just do what it is told. In many cases this happens and the IT function slavishly automates the flawed process without question. However, the IT department is in a unique position in terms of its view of the process flows across the organization and so can provide genuinely valuable process consultancy.

What Every CEO Needs to Know About Portal Development
by Rick Sidorowicz
Many, if not most portal development projects have fallen short of enterprise portal aspirations and promises. This article provides CEOs a framework for the critical thinking needed to ensure your effort meets your organizations needs, and succeeds. It presents an overview of best practices in design and development, a rapid envisioning process and the top ten critical success factors to ensure a significant return on investment.

The IT Value Stack - Layer One: Strategy Entwinement
by Ade McCormack
In The IT Value Stack, I present a model to help organizations yield best value from their IT investment. This seven-layer IT Value Stack takes IT value maximization into the boardroom. The foundation layer deals with strategy entwinement - your IT leaders should have significant influence over business strategy; too much of your organization's ability to function and out-innovate your competitors relies on IT.

The IT Value Stack
by Ade McCormack
Many executives question the value IT delivers. The IT department could very easily demonstrate their value but I wouldn't encourage you to press them on this. Turning the servers off for a few hours would certainly remind you of why you need IT. I have spent the last few years developing a model to maximize the value obtained from one's IT investment and have developed a simple model for measuring it.

The Naked Truth: It’s Time to STOP Educating the CEO About Technology
by Jackie Bassett
Completely contrary to what many have preached for awhile now, the naked truth is that educating the CEO about technology is a waste of time and we need to stop. Why? We’ve just run out of time. Digitization has just met globalization and CEOs of companies that say no to customer demands will lose to those who just say yes.

Information Security: Protecting Your Data is NOT Just a Cyberspace Issue Anymore
by Tim Rhodes
Your office photocopiers and those found at stores like Kinko's can now be added to the list of items that can leak your company's personal data. These multi-function printers usually contain small hard drives that can be removed and accessed by virtually anyone who has a computer and a hard drive data cord.

The Right IT Stuff for Small Business!
by Ilene Rosoff
Do you often feel stuck in the computer abyss when it comes to managing your company's needs for web or information technology services? What's the best way to find a great web or information technology services partner to work with and then get the most out of that relationship?

Disaster Looms! Why Viewing Your IT Systems as a "Utility" is MUST
by Charles L. Nault
What does it take to make your network a continuously fully functional, expeditious, and a safe "utility" network?

Something's in the Air: Is it Your Success?
by Gordon Hurst
There are issues, not always clearly apparent, of certifying wireless products for use globally. Here is a checklist that can help CEOs and their management teams avoid the hidden problems in this process.

Building High-Quality Software - Establishing a Culture of Quality
by Alan S. Koch
Getting Management's, Developers', and QA's roles into proper alignment will lay the foundation for the cultural shifts that are necessary to achieve high quality.

The Maelstrom Effect: The Next Generation
by Dr. James Bowen
The Effect is a set of strategies and tactics that companies are using to thrive in a Maelstrom. We need to see the future as always rushing towards us. In a sense we must always live in the future.

Making "IT" Work for You
by D. Keith Denton
Executives normally do not need more data, technology, or speed. What is needed is technology that helps make sense of endless data so it can be turned into useful knowledge and work.

When Will Outsourcing Grow Up?
by Walter Adamson
Outsourcing is by no means new, and some firms have achieved outstanding results in terms of business improvement. What are the lessons from the firms that have succeeded and from those that have performed poorly?

Why Systems Fail - The Dead-end of Dirty Data
by Olin Thompson
Dirty data causes problems - large and small, catastrophic and insignificant. Maybe now is the time to use your resources to search out dirty data and fix the problem - before your trading partners or auditors find them.

Strategies for Developing and Maintaining a Top Talent Pool
by Dora Vell
Even as experts forecast a future war for talent and reports on talent turnover's high costs further underscore talent's universal importance, one industry stands out in its extreme reliance on this key resource. That industry is technology.

Application Erosion: Eating Away at Your Hard Earned Value
by Olin Thompson
The day any new system goes live, you have created value. You paid for that value in money, time, disruption, frustration and many other currencies. But you will lose the value if you do not do something to avoid application erosion.

Escalating Software Development Costs? Here are Strategies for Containing Them
by Raj Phalpher
In spite of all the automated tools available for requirements management, code generation, testing, etc., software development is very labour intensive. Here are four strategies that can help reduce the cost of running their software development factory.

Improving CEO and CIO Relationships: Focus on eContext not eContent
by D. Keith Denton
Information technology must be combined with a rethinking of both the purpose and meaning of that information. We should begin by focusing on the context of what and how the information is to be used and not simply adding more content.

How the CEO Should Move the Monkey for Major IT Projects
by Walter Adamson
Major IT projects fail, and millions are wasted, because CEOs and senior managers allow themselves to be managed and to carry the monkey for the delivery of these major projects. There is a better approach where the monkey is moved to the back of those most able to explore the risk and recommend the solutions.

Do Applications Really Erode? Diagnosing the True Causes of System Erosion
by Lynne Wardell
The term "application erosion" was recently coined to explain the phenomenon of decreasing value in a system occurring over time. It infers that applications have life. Unfortunately, the term not only misdiagnoses a common problem but also misses the point.

Supercharging Your Information Technology Projects
by Derek F. Martin
It's been three years since you implemented that highly anticipated technology project that promised to free up 20% of employee time for more value-add activities. Walking around the office, you notice that the same people are doing the same job with the same results. Why have the expected benefits from the new technology not been realized?

Securing Technology Products Without a Technology Policy Isn't Secure at All
by Bennett Tavar
Studies show that the computer systems of up to 85 percent of businesses nationwide are vulnerable to breaches of security. There either are no security measures in place, or practices that offer scant protection. The same studies show this threat is an equal opportunity oppressor, and hangs over organizations of every size and description.

Relationship with Change
by Bray J. Brockbank
How businesses manage change is equally as important as how they manage their employees, suppliers, partners, and customers. Because "time-to-change" is as central to business success as "time-to-market."

Data Resource Management at Semantic Software.com: Chaos to Efficiency
by Scott Tavelli & Rajeev Kaula
This case details the data management chaos that existed at Semantic Software.com and the steps the company undertook to improve its management of data and bring efficiency toward its operations.

Data Cleansing: Save $$$ by Getting it Right
by Andrew LaDuke
Businesses are implementing ERP, SCM, & CRM programs to manage their data efficiently. These systems are optimized only when the data they are using is accurate.

Nine Future Catalysts
by Bray J. Brockbank
Study and research of the future or "futures" has emerged as an instrument for governments and business enterprises in identifying and studying emerging trends and envisioning the range of scenarios that they may produce. The author offers nine general 'catalyst' categories that will shape future business activities over the next three to five years - and possibly beyond.

Weathering the Storm
by Gerry Smith
Technology services companies need to focus on cost control and revenue generation, and consider business management software that can have a rapid impact on profitability.

Digital Revolution or the Wild, Wild West?
by David Tibi
The core of the problem is a lack of management processes and centrally available decision support information to competently manage rapid deployment of change to the mission critical technology infrastructure.

Offshore Outsourcing: ‘Nirvana’ for Application Development?
by Raj Phalpher
Outsourcing and especially, IT outsourcing, is not a fad; it is here to stay. IT outsourcing has grown by more than 25% year-on-year in the 1990’s, and the ‘Guru’ of IT outsourcing is India!

Adding Value In Information Systems
by Rick Sidorowicz
CIOs and CEOs that run IS as an integral component of the business and see IT as an ‘enabler’ of opportunity can focus their investment and energy to deliver value and create new business capabilities.

Technology Powers Productivity Benefits in the Auto Credit World, Too!
by Keith B. Stein
At last, we are enjoying the dividends in office productivity that were first promised more than a generation ago.

ERP: Successful Implentation the First Time
by R. Michael Donovan
How can we avoid these costly mistakes? Guidelines to help you with ERP success.

The Balloonist
Anonymous submission
A man piloting a hot air balloon discovers he has wandered off course and is hopelessly lost. He descends to a lower altitude and locates a man down on the ground.

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