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In order to make a strong case that IT is part of the business, it’s important that the entire IT organization knows the business inside and out. If you’re nodding your head in agreement, but aren’t sure how to establish this model, follow these guidelines and you'll be well on your way.
12 Lessons on Leadership: Real Stories of Risk and Change
If you could gather together in the same room 12 legendary leaders -- including the mayor of New York City, the world’s richest man, the superintendent of one of our nation’s most esteemed military institutions and several accomplished CEOs -- what would you do? If you’re like most of us, you’d want to pick their brains, right? Fortunately, the new book, No Fear of Failure: Real Stories of How Leaders Deal with Risk and Change (Jossey-Bass/available now) figuratively puts these very people in the same room for you. Authored by Gary Burnison, CEO of talent-management solutions firm Korn/Ferry, the book features one-on-one interviews with a dozen leaders to extract compelling nuggets of wisdom about failure, success and the many steps in between. As the book title implies, what may impress readers the most is not the tales of great accomplishments, but rather the perspectives on falling short of goals. “One of the amazing similarities these leaders share is a deep inner serenity that comes from accepting the inevitability of failure,” Burnison says. “Success instilled confidence in each of them, but their failures imparted wisdom. Unfortunately, humans cannot see the future; tragedies occur and failure happens. However, it’s not what you do at the moment of failure, it’s what you do after that counts.” Here are selected quotes from each interviewee, conveying 12 distinct takes on leadership:
Watson's Jeopardy Showdown: Man Vs. Machine
An epic showdown of man vs. machine took place Feb. 14-16, 2011. That's when “Watson ,” a computing system from IBM, faced off against & Jeopardy!& superstars Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Turns out, an artificial intelligence-driven machine can overcome championship-level human minds. With Watson, the key challenge isn’t a command of statistics and factoids. It’s a matter of programming a computing system that can pick up the subtle nuances of the game show, including knowing how to bet. This requires understanding of language, including the puns and irony that provide the subtle clues hidden in the often-clever wording of the Jeopardy! answer-and-question trivia format. Ultimately, Watson is designed to help us determine the extent to which intelligent machines can be used to resolve problems related to technology, health care and a broad range of other topics. In the book Final Jeopardy: Man vs Machine and the Quest to Know Everything (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Available now), author Stephen Baker details the history of Watson leading up to the big event. Machines like Watson will eventually emerge as the norm in offices, factories and emergency rooms, Baker contends, as well as influencing our smartphones. “Each one of us will have to figure out how to leverage these smart systems for our own good -- and not be replaced by them,” he says. “Our brains are still the most intricate, complex and brilliant thinking machines on earth. But we have to figure out how to use them in concert with the machinery we’re building.” Looking to test your own knowledge? In honor of the Man Vs. Machine showdown, CIO Insight used information from Baker's book and other resources to create this Jeopardy!-styled quiz to test how much you really know about IBM's Watson.
Will Economic Recovery Drive Enterprise Cloud Initiatives?
CIOs and other senior IT managers say they expect demand for cloud-computing solutions to rise in their enterprises as an anticipated economic recovery takes hold. In some cases, these IT decision-makers expect to be the ones driving the cloud initiatives, while in other cases the movement toward the cloud is expected to be driven by other enterprise stakeholders, according to a new report released by Savvis Inc and based on a survey conducted by IDG Research Services and CIO Custom Solutions Group. Respondents say cloud computing is needed in the enterprise computing infrastructure to enhance flexibility, increase competitive advantage and drive innovation, among other perceived benefits. But the majority of respondents also feel it's difficult to find the “just right” cloud solution for their enterprise, according to the report & Enterprise-Grade Cloud Computing Adoption: Trends and Purchase Requirements.& The report also indicates that organizations need cloud solutions that can be customized to go beyond the standard application level, as well as address security and service-level needs. More than 170 CIOs and IT managers worldwide took part in the survey, which can be accessed here. The following are selected highlights:
Six Myths of Innovation
Not everything you think you know about innovation is true.
Six Sigma Drives IT Innovation
Six Sigma is no longer the proprietary resource of the manufacturing sector alone. IT organizations across the world are launching Six Sigma programs to boost quality, productivity and innovation.
Innovation: How Environmentally Friendly can IT Be?
In his first column for cioinsight.com's new Innovation Center, Editor Edward Baker considers the importance of innovation in the constant struggle against business inertia.