Our viewpoints
Keeping on the front foot, where it matters
You’re on the board of a serious company and you’re aware that among
the many IT initiatives that run every year maybe three or four would have a
critical business impact on the firm, for better or worse. You’ve got your
best people running them, so why the niggling worry?
You may be thinking about
getting your internal audit folk to give these programmes a once over. You’re
aware though that they have no more experience of big complex programmes than
the people you have running them. You’re also aware that by the time a
problem becomes self-evident it may be too late.
If getting it right is the only
option, timely objective insight could keep you on the front foot.
Read the full article >

Enterprise Portals – they're easy, aren’t they?
The propagation of portals continues apace. Often viewed as a panacea, portals
are seen as a simple way to transform an organisation, providing much needed
freedom of access, and helping to improve compliance processes.
It is possible
to offer an almost instantaneous intranet, with built in functions such as collaborative
working, document, content and knowledge management, straight out of the box.
The road ahead may look clear and straight but how can you be sure you’re
not going to be led down a blind alley?
Read the full article >

Moments of truth in IT programme management - 1
IT programmes have a reputation
for write-offs, cost overruns, missed deadlines and wide gaps between the promise
and the payoff. There can be many reasons such programmes don’t live up
to their expectations, and they’re not always obvious.
Every programme faces moments
of truth – make or break points. Recognising the moments of truth and avoiding
them can avert disaster. We’ve a long list; we’ll pull out a few
over the next couple of months for a closer look. This time, your IT supplier
fails to deliver.
Read the full article >

Moments of truth in IT programme management - 2
It's the moment of celebration for the IT team, successful delivery of their
latest project.
They’ve built a system (or configured a package) and put
in place a brand new architecture. They’ve tested it all to destruction
from both a functional and operational perspective.
It goes live in production
with no technical issues.
But as with so many celebrations there is a morning
after – the business has a headache.
Read the full article >

Moments of truth in IT programme management - 3
The greatest risk to any programme or project is at the very start. Getting things
wrong at the beginning leads to a much higher risk of failure – it’s
very tough to recover from a bad start.
Big programmes are fraught with risk.
The Standish group recently reviewed a series of business critical programmes
and only 28% were completed on time and budget.
So what can programme managers
and sponsors do to ensure they get off to a good start? It’s all about
mobilisation, conditioning for success at the outset.
Read the full article >

Where’s Einstein when you need him?
Creating an IT architecture that supports the business, and adds real value, means understanding the difference between ‘breadth and depth’; accepting one person can’t know it all and ensuring you bring the right team together and organise them effectively.
Achieving the right
architecture is often made out to be much more complicated than it actually
is. It’s really very simple. So why do so many architects find it tough
to get it right?
Read the full article >

CIOs face major transformation
Over
the last 40 years, IT and deployment have gone through several discontinuous
eras. Each forced changes to the business model and IT leadership. The
next era requires a dramatically different approach and total rethink.
Will businesses and IT be prepared, and able, to rise to the
challenge of this major transformation? What’s changing
and why?
Read the full article >

Will
IFAs take the Wrap?
There
are those in the Financial Services field believing the terms
IFA and multi-tie will cease to exist in the next few years.
The Wraps phenomenon in the UK Financial Services market will
have huge potential for some and catastrophic consequences
for others.
IT and service delivery architecture are the key to its success, or failure.
Read the full article >

Management
in IT - CIOs should go fishing
You're
an outstanding CIO in a quality firm, running the business of IT. You have
a lot of good people in your organisation. So why are you still getting
it in the neck from the board? Why
do they keep telling you that IT isn't delivering? Why
isn't IT as good as they would expect for such a quality firm?
Read the full article >

Outsourcing
gone wrong
We've
seen horror stories where outsourcing goes wrong. It seems a sound idea
in theory, but how well do organisations think it through in advance? Are
they clear on motivation? Is it to reduce costs, improve their technology
base, or service delivery? Some
things are easier to outsource but with a thorough approach it doesn't
have to end in tears.
Read the full article >

MI vs BI
- the 'truth repository'
Management
Information (MI) is used to guide a business, answering the questions “are
we on course to meet our marketing and financial objectives?”
Business
Intelligence (BI), or decision support, typically addresses the more detailed,
more complex issues of strategy development, market analysis and business
planning. We’re
increasingly seeing that using separate approaches, systems and tools,
can cause major dilemmas, and expense, and critically for decision makers,
the information often conflicts. It’s time to bring these disciplines
together, but how best to achieve this in an already complex environment?
Read the full article >
IT
Architecture in a disjointed world
Is
designing a successful IT architecture really a black art? Why do so many
firms get it wrong?
Should you be letting
IT drive and what are the likely consequences if they do? Where are the
barriers that impede success? What steps should you take to achieve the
right answer? There
are so many perspectives for a CIO to consider; business, application,
infrastructure and information. Whilst you’ll never get a perfect
answer you can get very close and ensure you don’t end up in a blind
alley, squandering vital funds. There are big benefits to be had but where
do you start?
Read the full
article >