BOOKS FOR CIOS
Ten Must-Read Books for Business Technologists
By now, it's abundantly clear that being a CIO is as much about the business of technology as the technology of business. Few organizations can claim as much collective expertise in this area as McKinsey and Co., the celebrated global management consulting firm. In a recent article, McKinsey principal James Kaplan reveals his t
How the ‘Toyota Way’ Can Drive a Balanced IT Department
Since he passed away in 1990, Taiichi Ohno's impact within the global business community has remained firm—for good reason: He is universally recognized as the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS), better known in the U.S. as "lean manufacturing." Among the wastes he targeted for elimination: delays, unnecessary movement, over-production and activity that adds no value. In the... Read More »
Inside IT With Tech Visionary Charles Araujo
A popular author and speaker about the future of IT, Charles Araujo talks about what it means to be a digital leader, the IT organization of tomorrow, and how to enable transformation in an organization.
Read More »10 Ways Social Media Is Transforming Businesses
Remember when corporations once routinely banned employees from posting comments on Facebook and other social media? That seems like an eternity, as at least four of five companies now either use social media or are planning to do so. Clearly, social media's immediacy, accessibility and flexibility—you can instantly post an industry article, best practices inquiry or company... Read More »
Organizations Lack Important ERP Capabilities
While the vast majority of professionals feel that enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools are critical to business, a significant number are underwhelmed by their ERP system performance, according to a new survey from Epicor Software Corporation. The accompanying e-book-styled report, titled "Mobile, Social, Cloud and ERP: Whose Business... Read More »
Nine Best Practices for DevOps Teams
It is a phrase that neatly combines the words "development" and "operations." And it holds much promise to overhaul the way IT teams produce software. In this case, we're referring to "DevOps," a concept which focuses on product features, tests and delivery in the interest of rapid turnaround time with greater quality and reliability. The new e-book from Rackspace, "The DevOps Mindset:... Read More »
The Importance of Location for Digital CIOs
University of Pennsylvania professor David R. Bell discusses how real worlds and virtual worlds influence and affect each other, and are increasingly merging together.
Read More »What Visionary Leaders See
It's often said that great athletes—Peyton Manning, LeBron James and Derek Jeter immediately come to mind—command the kind of vision which sharply elevates their game IQ. The same can be said of highly successful CIOs and other senior leaders who take their organizations to new levels of accomplishment. Beyond a superior work ethic, experience and institutional knowledge, they... Read More »
Seven Emerging Technologies You Should Know About
Last fall, the CTO Forum gathered leading scientists and technologists for a two-day conference on disruptive technologies that have the potential to transform business and society. Keynote speakers and panelists from industry and academia discussed the state-of-the-art and what the future holds for cognitive computing, materials science, manufacturing, biotechnology, robotics, indoor... Read More »
Welcome to the Zero Marginal Cost Society
In a zero marginal cost society, the collaborative commons will bypass the conventional marketplace, and society will shift from an exchange-oriented economy to a shared one.
Read More »10 Leadership Blind Spots to Avoid
It's all too common for CIOs and other leaders to lose sight of all the essentials which are needed to succeed. This could happen due to the wealth of never-ending little jobs that come with the territory, but get in the way of the accomplishment of larger, more impactful objectives. Or it could relate to the pure size of your organization, and the resulting hierarchies. Or somewhere along... Read More »
How to Talk Tech Without Sounding Like a Techie
To gain buy-in for your IT proposals, you need to present them to people who have a wide range of backgrounds, interests and objectives. Which means you'll advance your cause far, far more readily if you don't come across as some tech guy who speaks in a barrage of arcane references and tired jargon. After all, it's critical here to establish a genuine connection with those whose support you... Read More »
Take Our Tough Quiz About Project Management
So you think you really know your project management lingo? If so, we're going to challenge you here with a pretty difficult Jeopardy!-style quiz about the various, acronym-thick terminology used to describe important documents and tools needed to support a major project. The terms are compiled in a section of a new book, Performance-Based Project Management:... Read More »
10 Things That Smart Data-Analytics Teams Do
In prior slideshows, we've extensively illustrated the rising role of big data in the enterprise, especially with respect to how it's driving business decision-making. To perform up to the expectations of the C-suite, your data-analytics IT team must deliver on a wide range of technology needs while still demonstrating a command of critical soft skills. The latter skillset will help your... Read More »
'Dilbert' Creator: Focus on Systems, Not Goals
Cartoonist Scott Adams argues that leaders are more likely to be successful if they concentrate on systems instead of goals.
Read More »10 Things That Digital Business Leaders Do
The entire world is creating endless volumes of valuable information and data every single second. Much of this is credited to social media, which is projected to consume more than 4 trillion minutes of the population's time over the next year. But it's also driven by the vast amount of data that is generated by companies which create highly personalized, online interactions with customers... Read More »
10 Building Blocks for Today's Leadership
The old school system of management has gone the way of the 9 to 5 workday. Today's top organizations recognize that the rules of leadership are changing to address the ever-expanding challenges caused by disruptive technologies and market forces. The new book, The Executive Checklist: A Guide for Setting Direction and Managing Change (Palgrave Macmillan), helps frame these dynamics... Read More »
10 Tough Disaster Recovery Questions for CIOs
What's worse than having a CEO and board of directors grill you about your disaster recovery plan? Well, not having a good answer for every question, especially if they're asking after the worst has happened, as opposed to before. Given that the future of your organization (not to mention your career) is at stake here, we're presenting the following 10 questions that every... Read More »
10 Ways to Ask Great Questions
Let's face it: Most of us love great interrogation scenes in movies or TV shows. From countless detective shows to 24 to the climax of A Few Good Men ("You can't handle the truth!"), we get a vicarious rush when we see a protagonist grasp the essence of reality under adverse conditions. In real life, of course, running an IT department... Read More »