IT Outsourcing, Off Shore Support, Cost Cutting and IT Department Changes

By |March 23rd, 2010|

Businesses everywhere are looking to shore up their bottom lines by cutting costs. As a result, cost centers such as IT departments are prime targets for outsourcing and offshore maintenance. The typical business script is that as the IT organization moves into maintenance mode, cost centers with high overhead become a prime target for reducing costs. However, despite how things might appear, cost is not the real driver of IT outsourcing. The real driver of IT outsourcing is function. IT departm [...]

Future Technology Landscape Alignment for the CIO, IT Director, or Key IT Decision Maker

By |March 2nd, 2010|

This article is the last of a four-part series, which covered the entire breadth of the business to technology landscape of the future: IT organizational alignment, business alignment, and future technology alignment for success in tomorrow's marketplace. This final post takes a look at the emerging technology landscape and what the future holds. What Does the Future Technology to Business Alignment Hold - Future ERP, SAP, and IT Value A number of changes on the horizon will produce a number of [...]

Changing the Direction of SAP, ERP, and IT Applications to Focus on the Customer and Innovation

By |February 19th, 2010|

This is the third part of an ongoing series about where the application technology market is today, including ERP vendors such as SAP and Oracle, and where the market is headed. The series provides insight on how to get ahead of the current trends and ride the wave that is building rather than getting swept away with it. The current business trends and market forces for technology will reward the swift and adaptable who are able to address the key business areas that have been lacking in the te [...]

What Is the Proper Relationship for the CIO, CEO, and CFO?

By |February 8th, 2010|

The CIO role in business has been changing almost as quickly as technology itself. In the past focusing on business processes and automation was enough to satisfy the business needs for operational excellence. As long as they did so successfully, the CIO received carte blanche, often having large budgets and significant latitude in applying them. However, those days are quickly fading. Today, many IT departments and IT organizations are becoming internal vendors to internal customers with “char [...]

Why Indexed KPIs are Critical for Business Performance and Success

By |January 21st, 2010|

As I have written in previous articles, not every metric for business or processes is a KPI. Too many IT systems and too many companies define a departmental goal as a Key Performance Indicator, creating unnecessary friction among other departments or areas of the company. By using a weighted index, you significantly reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the competing requirements. As part of a continuing effort on using key performance indicators for building a strategy focused organization, I [...]

Using Key Performance Indicators for Building a Strategy Focused Organization

By |December 18th, 2009|

The key performance indicator acronym (KPI) is used so much that it has come to be associated with any type of business measure. Everything is called a KPI, which distracts from its purpose as an important business tool. Not every measure is a KEY Performance Indicator, only those measures that are crucial to making a difference in the marketplace, your company health, and performance. Because of this confusion around Key Performance Indicators, businesses often use the wrong measurements. Too [...]