Allan Alter

Fewer than 30 million American households have broadband, and the Federal Communications Commission would like that number to be higher. Studies say $67 billion could be added to the gross domestic product and 665,000 jobs could be created if consumers subscribed en masse to broadband. That’s why in October, the FCC set out new technical […]

Carnegie Mellon University’s MBA program is ranked second and third, respectively, by The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek for its IT focus. We asked Kenneth Dunn, the dean of CMU’s Tepper School of Business, what recruiters want MBA graduates to learn about technology, and how CMU has responded to their needs. Earning an ROI from […]

After more than 80 acquisitions in ten years, the sales staff at The Bank of New York Company Inc.—a commercial bank with $93 billion in assets in 33 countries—couldn’t consistently track who had spoken to which customer about what. With more than ten separate client databases and tracking systems, the salespeople who dealt with a […]

As a rule, Sherwin-Williams Co. prioritizes IT projects according to five criteria: their financial, strategic and business impact, and their technical and business difficulty. Higher ranked projects are given a higher priority; mandatory, “keep-the-lights-on” projects are given top priority. “That’s how we normally do it,” says Gary Marich, manager of application development at the Cleveland-based […]

If you thought the dot-com bust would quench CIOs’ thirst for deploying emerging technologies from small companies, think again. According to this month’s survey, 84 percent of companies are willing to work with small vendors offering new technologies. Here are just a few examples: A few years ago, New York City-based Bowne & Co. Inc., […]

It seems like a no-brainer: After putting in all the time and effort required to see if an IT investment will produce a worthwhile ROI, surely it’s logical to find out whether you’ve actually received it after the project is over. “If you don’t learn, you can’t improve. Seems obvious to me,” says Tom Pisello, […]

A top technology executive at a construction company says, “I’m staying put, but my eyes are open.” Nothing is making him leave, he says on condition of anonymity, but “I’ve exhausted most of my opportunities here.” A disgruntled healthcare CIO recently went through a corporate reorganization that put others in charge of projects he wanted […]

The accounting scandals that dragged down Enron Corp., WorldCom Inc. and others in recent years have led to a variety of fixes—from new laws regulating accounting and financial reporting to stock exchange rules governing the makeup and governance policies of corporate boards—all in hopes of shoring up investor confidence. Will it be enough to avoid […]

In a classic comedy sketch, the late Dudley Moore asks a spectacularly inept restaurateur, played by Peter Cook, if he’s learned from his mistakes as proprietor of The Frog and Peach. “I think I have, yes,” Cook replies, “and I think I can probably repeat them almost perfectly.” Considering all that was spent on Y2K, […]

Viewpoint: Michael Treacy CIO Insight You say any company can achieve double digit growth, that there’s no excuse, even in hard times. How is it possible though under difficult conditions? Michael Treacy: Well, the piece that everyone has to recognize is that the growth of the market you compete in is only one of five […]

68% of CIOs measure the benefits technology brings to strategic goals 76% of IT execs believe the pressure to measure intangible benefits has increased 73% of CIOs don’t calculate ROI on projects after they’re completed 70% of companies find it difficult to calculate ROI 44% of the results of ROI calculations are subjective Given the […]

0.2% less is budgeted for IT spending by companies in 2003 22% cite “reduce operating costs” as the top project priority for 2003 88% of users say collaborative forecasting is effective 22% fewer companies have budgeted for security initiatives in 2003 This year’s budget numbers are in: IT spending will be down, if slightly, with […]