I believe that technology would be in a commonplace and readily available via the cloud that a company’s ability to set itself apart via technology would be fleeting at best, however, I think that systems of engagement and other technologies would be differentiating. I think most technology...

While some enterprises will invest in a range of mobility products and services, here are five key areas in particular which I am going to concentrate as a CIO on enterprise mobility in 2014.  Business consulting services. Specifically for defining a formal enterprise mobility...

The single European currency was expected to smooth the functioning of the European economy. By fixing the nominal exchange rate and eliminating currency risk, the euro would achieve convergence between the euro area’s stronger and weaker economies — the so-called core and periphery....

  DevOps (a portmanteau of development and operations) is a software development method that stresses communication, collaboration and integration between software developers and information technology (IT) professionals.[1] DevOps is a response to the interdependence of software...

I have had number of questions on Hadoop, thus I though write this article on explaining what Hadoop is.  Hadoop is a free, Java-based programming framework that supports the processing of large data sets in a distributed computing environment. It is part of the Apache project sponsored by...

Why the U.S. should want to increase its exposure to Europe, paralyzed by a financial and debt crisis, isn’t immediately obvious. Most economists nowadays tend to focus on how to boost trade with the fast-growing emerging economies, such as Brazil, Mexico and China. Yet trade between...

Too many of us like to say that we keep an open mind when we really don’t. In order to be an effective CIO both today and tomorrow, we’re going to need to make sure that we work very hard to make good decisions. This means that we’ve got to realize that we will never have complete...

CIO is the most important senior leader in driving or supporting a business transformation; why is the CIO asked to do so much in what is essentially a business initiative? I have helped and gone thru five stages of a business transformation — discovery, strategy, road map, implementation,...

Once you get past all the jargon and sometimes conflicting job descriptions, your enterprise architect is basically the person who understands what the business needs, where it is headed and finds technology to match those needs. They’re the ones in charge of abolishing silos, enhancing...

A CIO is only as effective as his or her IT department will allow him to be. What this means for you is that you can’t leave who gets hired to your HR department. As the person in the CIO position, you are going to have to make sure that you’ve built the IT department that the best and the...

Your business is complex. Big data promises to manage this complexity to make better decisions. But the technology services that run your business are also complex. Many are too complex to manage easily, fueling more complexity, delays, and downtime. I predict this will inevitably get worse....

All too often the rest of the company views the IT department as being a gigantic black hole when it comes to funding. More and more money gets poured into IT every year and yet at the same time the rest of the firm probably feels that they are getting less and less value for that money. The...

The ideal business model is one that makes the project self-sustaining either through revenue generation or through cost reduction. Performance-contracting, as one example, embraces the latter. These business models are based on creating efficiencies in enterprise applications and IT...

The other day I read the financial reports for Netflix (NFLX) and I think Netflix has clearly reached its top value, due to the fact that, the company is burning through cash and its financial health continues to worsen. Moreover, I believe things will continue to get worse since it is...

There is a new approach that leading enterprises and governments are taking today that is significantly simpler, more manageable and empowers companies to share their key data more freely, opening up massive new market opportunities for all. Here’s how American Airline is taking...

Recently I read a great article in that talked about some of issues SAP has had in China, however, after extensive research I applaud SAP, as is taking the right steps to integrate local requirements and deliver product capabilities that address the some of its issues in China: Solutions...

What do your direct reports say about you! In my career as an executive / CIO and a global technology consultant to C level executives, I have never met an executive who was too intellectually slow to be successful. Most executives have more than enough skill and intelligence to be wildly...

Expect the European Central Bank (ECB) to be pressed hard to join other central banks in actively seeking to depreciate the currency – by cutting the policy rate (currently 0.75 per cent) and quantitative easing of the type pursued by the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the US Federal...

This is one of the best commercials I have seen in a while, Best Commercial

It’s been clear for years now that small business startups don’t build massive IT departments and big operations teams. Instead they focus on the capabilities which truly differentiate them in the marketplace – their strategic capabilities. They hire experts in these...

Taking a bite-sized approach to Big Data is best. Launching one or a few Big Data pilots doesn’t require a substantial investment of time and money and eliminates the fear of failure that can hold executives back. This is what I did: Learn – learn about the problem or opportunity, prioritize...

With the era of digitization, sales & marketing savvy CIO will articulate the IT vision and service value, identify the key business differentiator, cost cutting opportunities, optimize the supply chain, and improve the business process and customer services. The marketing wisdom of IT...

I believe that central banks have been compelled to undertake unconventional measures, things they haven’t done before, because other policymakers are not stepping up to take responsibility on the fiscal side. This central bank activism can be risky. For example, the more liquidity a central...

We all know, Facebook was one of  well talked about IPOs, and understandably so. The company has over 900 million users around the world, is a leader and a major disrupter and, as such, continues to redefine not only social networking but also a growing number of people’s interactions...

Potentially anyone can become a CIO. Only a very few can become a great CIO. The difference between the two types of CIOs comes down to one word – leadership. When you become CIO, you will also become a split-personality. One part of you will be focused on creating and maintaining successful...

I just read in a trade and Financial magazine Facebook just made it much easier for advertisers to target the folks who still use “feature” phones – or we IT people call them Non-Smart PHones. That seems like a sensible move. In my opinion much of Facebook’s growth, in terms of users at...

Bitcoin is essentially a digital currency – a form of money stored in an owner’s online “virtual wallet”, free from the control of governments or central banks. It was released in 2009 by someone going by the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto who wanted a virtual currency that was unrestrained by...

Some security problems are really hard to fix. Java, a programming language used by most computers and browsers, is about as secure as a paper mache bank vault and it acts as an open door into your computer. My solution: Throw it overboard and don’t give it a second thought. The bad guys have...

At home, we get social, mobile, video, and cloud services pitched to us 24×7. Facebook, Android, iPad, Foursquare, Google, YouTube, Office Web Apps, Twitter. The list is endless and growing every single day. Empowering technologies like these will always come to consumers first. Why?...

Ask anyone where they work, and they will tell you what company they work for and then perhaps add their role.  But all too often this is not the case in IT. “I work in IT as a programmer” is a more familiar response. The challenge is that IT professionals too often see themselves...

Digital currency will turn retail and financial services on its head, eventually. Digital currency fascinates me, especially the enigmatic Bitcoin creator and its so far unbreakable code. Also the way you have to mine for more coins is very interesting. Whether or not Bitcoin succeeds as the...

I believe the CIO of the future may look a lot like a venture capitalist—maintaining principles for what makes a solid investment, defining the boundaries upon which deals will be conducted, and driving funding, staffing and strategic support based on often-changing needs and the emerging...

“As CIO, I am able to leverage tools to mine data and sit in an advisory role for the business. That’s transformational, and that’s what business is looking for in these times. I can partner with the business to create unique opportunity to differentiate the organization with customers.” —...

Why don’t more companies operate with IT at the center of discussions and reap the resulting transformational benefits? Whether or not a company is maximizing the talent of the CIO and harnessing the unbridled power of technology often depends on two factors: 1) is the CEO a champion of IT?...

Clearly the CIOs have an image problem – we’re seen as being the kings and queens of “NO”. What we need to understand is that the real world is not black and white: when we are asked to do something, we can’t shoot from the hip and just come up with yes or no reply. Instead, we need to start...

What role would Big Data play? Well, for instance, a pharmaceutical company might want to identify the top 100 opinion-makers in the pharmaceutical world. To do so, it could crawl the web and go to millions of pages related to the industry, ingesting the data while weeding out anything...

Here in the IT sector we spend a lot of our time talking about the challenges of aligning what the IT department does with what the rest of the company needs. Just when we think that we’re making some progress in this area, events like the ones that are unfolding over at a certain airline...

Social media has arrived and it’s not going to be going away anytime soon. The most important thing that you need to be aware of when you are in the CIO position is that you can’t control social media – it’s bigger than you are. What you do need to understand is why your company is going to...

In many companies, the IT department can appear to be an object of mystery. A lot of money gets spent on it and yet the value that it delivers may not be clear to the rest of the company. No matter what part of the IT sector you work in, as the CIO, it’s going to be your job to fix this...

Quick question: what is the #1 job of a CIO? Hmm, good question, eh? Although this should really be part of the definition of information technology, I’m pretty sure that we could sit around and debate just exactly what is the #1 job of a CIO all day; however, I’m also pretty sure that we...