IT Strategy

Cloud computing is fundamentally changing the IT ecosystem in many ways, forcing related changes in business models.  Other than customers (who are always “king” and make buying decisions), the IT ecosystem players being affected by cloud includes technology providers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators (SIs).   One of the battles being fought right now by technology providers is to develop end-to-end cloud platform stacks attractive to ISVs.  IBM announced additions to their recently launched PureSystems family at Impact 2012 with more than 125 ISVs supporting this family with patterns. Although the primary focus of this cloud platform stack is on ISVs, there is also a need for SIs to adapt to these changes, especially as it relates to custom software development and maintenance capabilities. Similar to what is happening in the IT ecosyste... (more)

Mind the Gap - Three Gaps to High Velocity Pipeline and How to Cross Them

When I used to go to London often and ride the Underground, the constant refrain seen was "Mind The Gap".   Mind the Gap or you could suffer some unmentionable and clearly gruesome fate.   As Online software service providers of all flavors try to create high velocity sales and marketing businesses, they would do well to mind these three gaps: The "It's Not Your Time" gap The "It's Not My Job" gap The "Window Shopping" gap Let's take a quick look at each of these gaps and see how we can minimize the risk of a potential customer "falling through the cracks", which while not blood... (more)

Modernization of IT: Solving a Legacy of Business Problems & Applications

I talk to a lot of CIOs. I met with one in early May who oversees the IT operation of a $6 billion yearly entertainment-related company with about 7,000 employees. This top-notch exec was all about transforming a huge investment in existing IT infrastructure into a new dynamic, extensible and agile platform that would propel the business forward - not hold it back. This guy is busy figuring out how to keep a Boeing 777 up in the air while simultaneously re-fitting aircraft to make it best-in-class. That's what IT should be all about. But in some organizations, it's not. Either th... (more)

Twenty-Thousand Men Pregnant Because of Bad Data

Nearly 20,000 British men were pregnant in 2009 and 2010 - according to the UK's National Health System. 8,000 of them had office appointments with their gynecologists, and a total of 17,000 of them were admitted to hospitals to undergo various obstetric services related to their pregnancies. As a big believer in equality across all genders, faiths and genetic backgrounds - I was initially very enthusiastic about this medical breakthrough. But my excitement was short-lived as I shortly found out that it was simply a matter of bad data introduced as data were manually re-entered f... (more)

Legacy Modernization

IT exists to support the business - and in best-of-class IT departments, this truism is embedded deeply into the departmental culture. Yet in so many cases, this self-evident truth gets lost in the mayhem of building, maintaining and supporting the myriad of complicated and brittle legacy application systems that have been put together over the years to support the enterprise's business. Legacy Application Modernization is a transformative initiative that has the potential to not only change the way IT supports the business, but to change the very nature and culture of IT. IT Cu... (more)