McKinsey - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• How can businesses protect their customers as well as the value of data?

  Australia has an opportunity to lead the world in data privacy

• 5 facets of the coming Internet of Things boom

  Predictions that the Internet of Things (IoT) will usher in a <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/article/2854635/the-internet-of-things-may-bring-a-new-economic-boon.html">new era of prosperity</a> get some backing in a <a href="http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/business_technology/The_Internet_of_Things_The_value_of_digitizing_the_physical_world">new study</a> by consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company.

• One in three datacentre servers is a zombie

  A new study says that 30% of all physical servers in data centers are comatose, or are using energy but delivering no useful information. What's remarkable is that that percentage hasn't changed since 2008, when a separate study showed the same thing.

• CIOs need to care more about project management

  Only two CIOs I’ve ever worked for over the past 15 years have really cared about project management.

• Self-driving car technology could end up in robots

  The development of self-driving cars could spur advancements in robotics and cause other ripple effects, potentially benefitting society in a variety of ways.

• Self-driving cars could save $190B a year in damages and health costs

  Each year, roadway crashes account for $212 billion in damages, including deaths, non-fatal but disabling injuries, hospitalizations and property damage.

• Progressive Insurance Uses Data Analytics to Fine-Tune Ad Strategy

  The Project: Deploy open-source data analytics software to measure the effectiveness of online display advertising at Progressive Insurance.

• US Social Security Administration spent nearly $300M on IT project 'boondoggle,' lawmakers say

  The U.S. Social Security Administration has spent nearly US$300 million on a software system for processing disability claims that still isn't finished and has delivered limited useful functionality, according to an independent report on the project.

• How to close the big data skills gap by training your IT staff

  Research firms paint a dire picture of a massive big data skills gap that will get worse over time. But companies like Persado, which uses big data to help marketers optimize their messages, are finding success training their existing staff in the new big data technologies.

• Avoiding project ambiguity

  Historically, organisational and change management issues related to IT projects were often under-estimated or ignored entirely. In fact, people issues collectively accounted for the majority of project failures.
  

• McKinsey beats Google, Facebook for having the toughest interviews

  Job candidates seeking employment at consulting firm McKinsey & Company better prepare themselves -- it ranked as the toughest company to interview at in a recent report, well ahead of big-name technology players like Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

• CIOs Must Help Plug the Talent Gap

  CIOs have trouble filling technical positions because of deficiencies in America's schools. It's time to get involved, says Gary J. Beach, author of a just-released book on this topic.

• How CIOs can influence new product innovation

  We've all heard the hype about a future of data-driven, always-connected devices where everything from cars to game consoles to refrigerators plays a role in the Internet of Things. We envision our household appliances tapped into the power grid, analyzing and fine-tuning electricity use. We expect our parked cars to one day use Wi-Fi to send traffic and weather forecasts to our office computers before we head out on the commute home.

• McKinsey Cloud Computing Report Conclusions Don't Add Up

  McKinsey, the doyen of strategy consultants,published a report on cloud computing last week featuring a disguised real-world case study. While the report doesn't explicitly state the fact, it seems that the paper is a summary of the results of a strategy project with a financial services firm, which apparently engaged McKinsey to assess whether it would make sense to move all of its systems to Amazon Web Services.