Sh… IT Happens #2

Although you might not believe it, ‘other stuff’ has happened in the world besides the inauguration of Barack Obama… I’ve collected a few gems from across the web from last week – Leave Your Comments below!

1. Communicating IT’s value using Project Portfolio Management

   Eric Brown on his blog EricBrown.com controversially states that "Business leadership has no idea what IT really does " and suggests that Project Portfolio Management tools (PPM) offer CIOs and IT Managers a window into their department to gain a greater understanding of the subtle differences between roles and distinguish people at a much more granular level. Eric infers that IT leaders make poor decisions in staffing levels because they are not familiar with their staff and comletely misunderstand what it takes to deliver IT services. Personally, I have met CIOs who know their people right down to junior staff, so Eric’s comment isn’t always true (nor am I saying he implied it is always true). Where I do very much agree is that a toolset that provides the right kind of data to support important and high-impact decisions is welcome both to leaders and juniors alike.
   Sidebar: You can still take the Computer Associates CIO Project and Portfolio Management Assessment – see this post for more details.

2. 10 Cloud Computing Predictions For 2009

   An in-depth article from Information Week that discusses the growth of Cloud Computing in 2009. In particular, it predicts that it will grow steady at around 20%. This number suggests that enterprises are coming out of their ‘rut’, i.e. that organizational designs are now flexible enough to accommodate the consumption of services in the cloud, that security services have matured to the point that privacy and integrity can be controlled, and also that the recession and budgets are compounding the demand on Cloud. Is your department embarking on a major Cloud project?

3. Five Changes Microsoft Must Do — Or Die

   CIO.com offers five objectives the software giant must set itself and deliver against this year. I won’t spoil them, but it goes without saying that their desktop OS needs some serious re-thinking.

4. It’s All About Who You Know — and Who They Know

   An article from the Washington Post that talks about the use of Facebook and LinkedIn as serious jobseeking tools. It tells you how to use the tools for maximum effect. It’s also (ahem) a blatant show that I’ve been quoted in the article.

5. Tech Buyers Vent About Vendor Satisfaction

   I like this one! What should IT vendors stop doing? Well take a look at this article on Information Week . Not surprisingly, ‘Stop Promising Capabilities That Aren’t There’ is top! The two on low-balling really great with me. Read this to see some great stories on how vendors are just not getting it right.

6. Oh, so THAT’s an Entrepreneur

   Dave Crain on his blog DaveCrainOnline.com shares his view on the common traits of an entrepreneur to look for. I like Dave’s insight and his clarity on risk-taking as a key defining factor of an entrepreneur. In IT, especially nowadays, we’re encouraged to take less and less risk. In fact the ‘corporate immune system’ actively hunts it down and squashes it. Entrepreneurship is dying, inside the enterprise. But maybe the qualities Dave describes still have a home? Do you see them inside your organization?

7. Creative Abrasion: How To Build Innovation Into IT

   I just love the work of Dr Jim Anderson on his blog The Business of IT . In this post Dr Anderson talks about a write-up of an Unstructure conference, an platform for open discussion on a wide array of business subjects, and he comments that innovation doesn’t really work when it is highly process-oriented (although innovation itself is a process) – his point is that innovation is stimulated by the leveraging and amplification of differences between people through creative abrasion and agility – you can’t put these things in boxes. They happen. You record the results. You take action.