IT leaders looking for a pat on the back for delivering much-needed technology to the business could be waiting a long time. Survey results released this week by Forrester Research show that while a majority of business executives depend on technology to do their jobs, they don't credit IT for providing those high-tech resources.
Accenture CIO Frank Modruson is surrounded by IT experts, but the part-time firefighter still finds time to think about new approaches to collaboration.
With the economy struggling and financial markets in a state of chaos, this is becoming a hard time to be an IT manager.
Heiliger really grills people with technical, maths and problem-solving questions, so his potential hires had better be prepared to think on their feet. Here's why he favours that approach, and what he's learned so far from Facebook's rapid hiring spree.
It would be hard to exaggerate the angst that has gripped the US in recent months as the election nears, markets churn and assets melt. But the headlines that have made us dread picking up the newspaper mask a long-term problem that may shape the future of America more than John McCain's plan for Iraq, Barack Obama's health care ideas or Uncle Sam's heroic efforts to rescue the economy.
Science and technology may not have been the focus of the recent debates between presidential hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama, but both candidates have outlined some broad policy proposals and goals. That's a good thing, because, as some of the top technology thinkers in the United States today recently shared with Computerworld, the next president will have to tackle the country's ongoing decline in global technological competitiveness.
What do you get when you add the human propensity to screw stuff up to the building of large-scale IT systems? What the military calls the force-multiplier effect -- and the need for a cadre of top-notch QA engineers.
When it came to a major overhaul of its business operations, the company allowed leadership of the initiative to migrate from one executive to another as the project moved to different phases. In the midst of it all, Jim McDade found himself in the role of prime contractor.
Commuting between Australia and the UK is just another challenge for Gavin Michael, the CIO of retail banking at Lloyds TSB.
The software development department might envision a marvelous solution to the company's IT or business need, but the technology goal can't be achieved unless the Big Boss commits to the new strategy. How do you get there-and ensure that the user need really is filled? The key, say three former CIOs, is accurate business process requirements, a common language for the business and IT to communicate, and executive steering.
Project managers are ultimately responsible for making sure projects are completed on time, on budget and with the features and functionality specified by the project's stakeholders. So one would presume that project managers' performance would be evaluated based on those same criteria. It sounds obvious, right?
Three books illustrate -- in fiction and nonfiction -- lessons that business executives and IT managers should learn. Find out why Mesh Collaboration, Business Focused IT and Service Excellence, and the original In Search of Excellence should be in your "To Be Read" pile.
If you work in IT at a financial services company-or any organization reeling from the country's economic woes-you're probably feeling insecure about your job not-not to mention powerless over market forces beyond your control.