Beyond Blinking Lights and Acronyms

Saying Why Is A Powerful Tool Wed 01 Jul 09

Adding An Explanation For Our Policies Can Improve Their Effectiveness

Most IT policies are written like the Ten Commandments.  Thou Shalt Not…  Thou Shalt Not…  Thou Shalt Not…  When you read them you almost expect them to be accompanied by a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning as the rules are laid down by the IT god.

Sometimes a more enlightened IT department will write policies in a more positive fashion.  Instead of Thou Shalt Not… they write it as Thou Shall… 

What IT Needs To Give Up Wed 24 Jun 09

The best IT governance in tough times involves giving up some control--and a lot of information

Balancing requests for more services has always been a challenge but it is especially tough during tough economic times when adding more resource is no longer an option. It is in situations like this when the word "no" can be very powerful.

This may seem contradictory to my previous suggestions that IT should put more effort into saying yes but it really isn't.  The concept of saying yes is about finding ways to help rather than looking for reasons why you can't help, why something can't be done or why something won't work. I still think we should look for ways to say yes in that context.

Are You A Leader? Mon 22 Jun 09

There really is a difference between being a manager and being a leader

Arun Manansingh over at a cio's voice recently had a great post.  I was going to include it in one of my Interesting and Useful Links post but I liked it so much that I thought it deserved a special mention all of its own.

Manansingh has done some excellent research and for his post Are You A Leader? (but don't go there quite yet).  He list characteristic traits of manager and leaders in a comparison fashion which really highlights the differences.

In reading this, it struck me that many organization have the same characteristics as they take on the traits and characteristics of their managers or leaders.  It is common to hear IT folks complain of being thought of as cost centers (and we all want to minimize cost) rather then value adders (where we should invest).  I think that if you look at the list you'll quickly recognize cost center IT groups as managers and value adding IT groups as leaders.  Ok, now go take a look (but come back, I'm not quite done yet).

I'll close by adding my own comparison which is not too dissimilar to Manansingh's next to last comparison:

Manager (cost center IT): Concerned with process

Leader (value adding IT): Concerned with results

What do you think distinguishes a leader from a manager?

Twitter's Dilemma Wed 10 Jun 09

Has the popular microblogging service become a victim of its own success?

I started using Twitter five months ago with some reluctance. I wasn't sure if I'd like it or if I'd be willing to put up with the inane commentary. Since then, I've learned that Twitter is really about conversation that you can make as trivial or serious as you desire. I've even suggested that Twitter has a place in the corporate world.

Although I still see the value in Twitter, I am beginning to wonder about its long-term viability. Twitter is growing exponentially and has reported an astounding 1,382% year-over-year growth. This growth has, however, apparently caused scalability issues and may also cover up some disturbing trends that could adversely impact its long-term user base and possibilities for monetization.

Identity Protection Goes Beyond Technology Mon 01 Jun 09

We need to include the "human element" in our identity protection schemes

Identity theft and security is always in the spotlight through the constant stream of news stories about companies losing confidential customer or client data, such as social security numbers, credit card numbers, health histories and so forth. These "breaking news" stories now seem to happen so frequently that we scarcely pay attention to them unless, of course, we are directly impacted by them. They have, however, heightened the public awareness and have even spawned new identity protection businesses.

IT companies rightly react to this by developing new technologies to improve security and eagerly market these to CIOs as a way to protect the personal information of their customers and clients. While we should use these appropriately we can't rely just on technology for identity protection.

Road Trip Tech Lessons Tue 19 May 09

Even problems can be a learning opportunity

I just got back from a 1,300 mile road trip from Houston to Cleveland.  I drove my daughter up there and left her a car for her summer internship.  It was 2 days of hard driving and then working to set her up in her apartment.  Those of you the follow me on Twitter know that all did not go well from a technology standpoint.  In the end all turned out well but since I like to see every experience as a learning opportunity I thought I'd look at what happened and what I as an IT person can learn from it.

Guiding Principles For IT Wed 06 May 09

If you need me I'll be there.

While going through some old papers the other day I came across something I'd written about 15 years ago in my first IT role.  It was a statement of Guiding Principles for IT that I used to let my employees and the users of IT how we intended to perform our role.  I patterned it off of what I had seen at a non-IT service provider and I was impressed by its simplicity, clarity and straightforward approach.

I re-read this very carefully and it still rings true for me now just as it did 15 years ago.  Even though I have not posted this in my new role (now that I've found it again I just might), it is still the way I like to operate.  It has many of the elements of a mission statement but it is more about how we do our business, truly guiding principles.  Take a look at it.  I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Analyzing The Cloud Wed 29 Apr 09

A recent report says cloud computing may not be cost effective for big companies. But that's not the whole story.

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with an old friend and his associate, who happened to be an analyst at one of the major information technology research firms, and our conversation drifted to cloud computing.

During this conversation, we agreed that cloud computing would make inroads with small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs) but not with large enterprises. Our conclusion wasn't based on economics but on IT culture. As my new friend stated, "The No. 1 barrier to the use of the cloud is IT culture."

Turning Scandal Into Success Wed 01 Apr 09

How federal CIO Vivek Kundra can recover from an FBI raid at his former office.

During the presidential campaign, then candidate Barack Obama created a great deal of excitement within the IT world by promising to appoint a federal chief technology officer. Excitement was further heightened when Vivek Kundra was named to the federal chief information officer role.

The excitement, however, was limited to the IT community. Although it was reported in the IT media and tech-related media such as  Forbes.com's CIO Network, the appointment never made the mainstream news. CNN.com for example, found "Tattoo Barbie" more newsworthy than Kundra's appointment.

Cheap Vs. Quality IT Wed 18 Mar 09

Companies won't buy the lowest-priced IT services if they don't deliver quality.

Information technology always focuses on cost reduction, perhaps because we're so good at it. But even now, when every company is focusing on reducing costs, our expertise in this area may not be enough. People will still consider outsourcing IT and want to reduce IT even if we are the low-cost source.

Companies grew and kept IT in-house, originally for cost, control and continuity matters and because "they know how we operate." For the longest time it has been, "Here's what we want done, go do it and keep the costs down."