• Risk Exposure: Spain's Bank Crisis Hits the Airbus and Boing Supply Chains May 18, 2012
    Kellogg Sch of Bus writes “…The financial troubles in southern Europe are spreading and impacting the supply chains of Airbus and Boeing…Supplier management must combine strategic contracting and relationship management that drives continuous improvement. It is key to operations strategy and any outsourcing models…” more
  • True Private Cloud Requires the Right Management System May 18, 2012
    Arthur Cole writes “…Converting legacy systems into private cloud architectures is proving to be an extremely nettlesome endeavor, as it forces enterprises to answer some very fundamental questions…The best thing about the cloud — whether public, private or hybrid — is that it solves a whole raft of management and deployment issues that have bedeviled IT for decades. At the same time, however, it introduces a whole new set of issues that…” more
  • Berkshire Partners IT Director Lists 3 Ways They Leverage Microsoft CRM May 18, 2012
    Customer Effective writes “[by Brad Koontz]…Eric Souza, Director of IT for Berkshire Partners participated in a live webinar with Brad Koontz of Customer Effective. The topic was CRM for Private Equity and Souza described their CRM journey and what made them successful…Souza added that now, with Microsoft CRM, deal flow pipeline reports are now in real time, easily searchable and available to the right people when they need them. Berkshire was able to get get senior level buy-in into the…” more
  • Why Every Organization Needs Four CIOs May 18, 2012
    SmartData Collective writes “[by Joe McKendrick]…We all know that the jobs of CIOs — most commonly known as chief information officers — are undergoing a dramatic transition. Now, it’s fair to say the initials “CIO” have evolved to mean four different titles…Chief Infrastructure Officer, Chief Integration Officer, Chief Innovation Officer, Chief Intelligence Officer, All four roles have important mandates…Here’s how these four roles fall out:…” more
  • To Investigate a Company Culture, Ask the Right Questions May 18, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Bill Barnett]…I believe you can learn about culture, even in the early stages. Here are suggestions about how to structure your inquiry… ask questions that point the discussion to how the organization works…I’ve come up with specific sample questions you can ask as you’re interviewing for a job or talking with others who know the institution. They’re grouped into six topic areas…” more
  • Whether Your Company is Big or Small, Good Leadership is Universal May 18, 2012
    Tribridge writes “[by Tony DiBenedetto]…Last week, Deloitte hosted a seminar called Private Perspectives…The guest speaker was the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt…He shared his four leadership practices that any manager or CEO can utilize…[1] Push the team to have very high standards… [2] Play to win. Be the best you can be in your space. [3] Drive strategic change in an organization. The role of leadership is to…” more
  • How Teens Have Raised Customer Expectations Across the Board May 18, 2012
    Aspect writes “[by Chris O'Brien]…the average teen sends more than 50 text messages a day, while children aged 11 to 14 spend an average of 73 minutes a day texting…They may be teenagers now, but this generation and its tendencies have already started to reshape the customer experience landscape entirely…more smartphones were sold last year than PCs and tablets combined, and the number of mobile Internet users is projected to…” more
  • CIO's Juggle Smartphone and Tablet Usage May 17, 2012
    CIO writes “[by Tom Kaneshige]…Mobile BYOD, or bring-your-own-device, is one of the hottest trends in technology today. Employees are pushing IT to support their personal smartphones and tablets at work. They want these consumer devices to tap into the corporate network, run critical apps and access sensitive data…” more
  • The Top U.S. Regions for Technology Jobs May 17, 2012
    Joel Kotkin writes “…Silicon Valley is far from leading the way in expanding science and technology-related employment in the United States…the Valley may soon need to consider what it must do to compete with the many other regions that are inexorably catching up with it. Best Metropolitan Areas for Technology Jobs…” more
  • APIs are Essential for Delivering Storage in Enterprise Cloud Infrastructures May 17, 2012
    Chris Evans writes “…It’s pretty easy to pick holes in the current legacy storage products, especially when it comes to integration within both public and private cloud deployments. However it’s worth discussing exactly what is required when implementing cloud frameworks, as the way in which storage is deployed is radically different from the traditional model of storage operations…we will look at why traditional methods of storage management need to change…” more
  • Reason for Site Refresh – Huge Estimated Loses for Poor Online Experience May 17, 2012
    Business Finance writes “[by Alan Radding]…look at what you are doing with online. Does it seem stale?…The Internet has moved into the age of hybrid computing, public/private/hybrid clouds, and constant mobility and social networking…organizations that have optimized engagement, according to Gallup Research, outperformed their competitors by 26% in gross margin and experienced 85% sales growth…” more
  • 9 Ways to Improve the Signal to Noise Ratio on Twitter May 17, 2012
    Brian Solis writes “…In one such study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT and Georgia Tech, people on Twitter said that only one-third of Tweets that hit their streams are worthwhile…what makes a Tweet worthy of response or sharing? The team is currently studying the specifics, but initial findings point to tweets that included questions, featured curated/relevant information with…” more
  • What Is It And Why Is Responsive Web Design Going Mainstream? May 17, 2012
    Ars Technica writes “[by Matthew Braga]…Responsive Web design, as the name implies, is a style of Web development where content responds to the device on which it is being rendered…If you want proof that responsive design is going mainstream, you need look no further than some of the Internet’s biggest Web properties…” more
  • Average U.S. Smartphone User has 41 Apps on Their Device May 16, 2012
    Network World writes “[by Brad Reed]…Nielsen has some interesting new data out today about Americans’ smartphone usage. The big takeaway: Americans love their mobile apps. How much do they love mobile apps, you ask? For starters, the average number of apps on a typical smartphone has jumped from 32 to 41 over the past year, an increase of…” more
  • Quantifying Reputation Loss From a Breach May 16, 2012
    Lori MacVittie writes “…20% of the businesses that lost data lost customers as a direct result. The impacts were most severe for companies with more than 100 employees. Almost half of them lost sales…One of the first things we have to calculate is influence, as that directly impacts reputation…It’s word of mouth, what people say about you, after all…we can find a lot of this data. It’s a well-studied area…” more
  • How to Avoid the Improvement Hype Cycle May 16, 2012
    Chris Taylor writes “…Companies that practice process improvement have been victims of this hype cycle for decades. Fed by consultants, gurus, technology vendors, and academics, their enthusiasm for a particular process improvement method takes on a religious tone…Many executives have never recognized this pattern of serial adoption of different approaches to what is essentially the same topic…So how can your organization avoid the process improvement hype cycle?…” more
  • New Microsoft Industry Reference Architecture for Banking MIRA-B May 16, 2012
    Bank Systems Tech writes “[by Bryan Yurcan]…IT costs in the banking industry average about 14 percent of total costs1 — nearly twice that of other industries — because of redundant, outdated or siloed applications that exist across multiple business units…MIRA-B helps alleviate this issue by helping banks create repeatable architectures and reuse commodity resources, where efficiencies can be gained. This framework enables new levels of data, application and business process transparency while helping banks maintain market…” more
  • Great Businesses Don't Start With a Plan May 16, 2012
    Anthony Tjan writes “[by HBR]…don’t worry too much about a business plan. But to guide your thinking…consider these design points: 1. Identify and clearly articulate your Heart and purpose….be very clear on the why of a business — the bigger goal at hand. 2. The team is more important than any idea or plan. The top three priorities should be people, followed by people, and then people….3. Think big, start small, then…” more
  • Ways to Know You are Talking Too Technically to Your Business Users May 16, 2012
    ITworld writes “[by Eric Bloom]…Business users are, generally speaking, looking for solutions to their problems and not necessarily the behind-the-scenes technologies that make it work…here are some tips you can use to assure that you are speaking appropriately with your business users…” more
  • Bringing Clarity to the Mysteries of Growth and Innovation May 16, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Scott Anthony]…Christensen’s mission is to help leaders make decisions using robust, well-grounded theories. His basic two litmus tests for a good business theory are something that explains the different circumstances facing managers and the causal connection between an action and a result…I agree with Forbes’ description that How Will You Measure Your Life is “one of the more surprisingly powerful books of personal philosophy of the 21st century…” more
  • General Motors Pulls Annual $10M Worth of Ads from Facebook May 16, 2012
    Ars Technica writes “[by Cyrus Farivar]…General Motors has announced that it would be pulling its paid advertising from Facebook, saying that it had too little impact…Companies in industries from consumer electronics to financial services tell us they’re no longer sure Facebook is the best place to dedicate their social marketing budget—a shocking fact given…” more
  • 5 Rising, 5 Declining Security Technologies May 15, 2012
    CIO writes “[by Ellen Messmer]…Security technologies rise and fall in popularity, and Forrester Research in its TechRadar report puts its bets on five it thinks are in a growth mode and five it thinks are dying away…” more
  • If Your Customers Can Live Without You, Eventually They Will May 15, 2012
    Bill Taylor writes “[HBR]…I’ve begun to encourage senior leaders of companies, executives who run business units or departments, even mid-level managers who are responsible for a specific brand, to step back and take time (probably much longer than twenty minutes) and write their organization’s obituary…To clarify your company’s future, it helps to step back and imagine a world in which it does not exist. This simple exercise grows out of a powerful question I heard years ago from” more
  • Big Data Will Make IT the New Intel Inside – CIOs Have 3 Options May 15, 2012
    SmartData Collective writes “[by Gil Press]…The linking of documents by web 1.0 and the linking of people by web 2.0 created what we now call big data. The explosion…occurred outside enterprises and, so far, had limited impact on enterprise IT…cannot ignore big data anymore…As I see it, CIOs have three options right now: 1.Let the business units acquire and experiment with big data tools… 2. Start working with the business units and functions to identify…” more
  • Grim Job Market Continues for Young Americans May 15, 2012
    Small Business Labs writes “[by Steve]…Although the overall labor market continues to improve, there isn’t a lot of good job news for young Americans. The Economic Policy Institute’s The Class of 2012 lays out how the job situation is for those 25 and younger. The key data is the current unemployment rate for workers under the age of 25 is 16.4%. A couple of other data points of interest are:…” more
  • How to Get Feedback When You're the Boss May 15, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Amy Gallo]…The higher up in the organization you get, the less likely you’ll receive constructive feedback on your ideas, performance, or strategy…without input, your development will suffer, you may become isolated, and you’re likely to miss out on hearing some great ideas. So, what can you do…What the Experts Say…” more
  • The Fallacy of Information Overload May 15, 2012
    Brian Solis writes “…there is a very real human cost of social connectivity. But, the symptoms of information overload are only a reflection of our inability or lack of desire to bring order to our chaos…The reality is that we are learning how to use these networks and what to expect in return…” more
  • Is Enterprise 2.0 a Pandora's Box? May 15, 2012
    Bertrand Duperrin writes “…at the beginning, enterprise 2.0 used to be seen as the solution to all the problems organizations have accumulated without challenging them frontally. One thing leading to another, the solution turned out to be more complex to implement than expected…enterprise 2.0 and social business were not the solution. Only principles that help solving problems we can’t overlook anymore…” more
  • 'Smartphonatics' Driving Mobile Payments May 15, 2012
    Bank Systems Tech writes “[by Bryan Yurcan]…The survey found that nearly 25 percent of consumers globally can be classified as smartphonatics. India has the highest percentage of total population identified as smartphonatics, at 60 percent, followed by South Africa at 42 percent. The fewest are found in Germany (10 percent), France (8 percent) and Canada (7 percent). The United States ranks in the middle at 20 percent. According to Shevlin, this disparity is due to several factors…” more
  • Business Process Management is Viewed as a C-Level Concern May 15, 2012
    Bank Systems Tech writes “[by Bryan Yurcan]… business process management is increasingly viewed as a C-level concern, as companies look internally to improve their margins, efficiency and productivity, according to a new study released today…over 1,000 senior business and IT decision makers — including CEOs and CIOs — worldwide, with over 60 percent saying they believe BPM should be managed directly by the executive board. Over half surveyed also believe their organization will place greater emphasis on BPM in…” more
  • Largest U.S. Community College District Chooses Microsoft Live May 15, 2012
    CIO writes “[by Juan Carlos Perez]…LACCD, the largest community college district in the U.S., plans to start the..rollout in the fall…While email communication will be the primary application…also be incorporated by users, including calendaring, IM and audio/video conferencing; and document creation, editing, storage, sharing and collaboration through SkyDrive and online…” more
  • As a Startup Grows, the Founders have to Grow with It May 14, 2012
    Telerik writes “[by Stephen Forte]…As startups start to mature, their founders have to mature along with it…Behaviors and policies that were appropriate for a small startup may not be appropriate for a company that is public. For example when Bill Gates rallied the troops by saying that they were going to “cut off Netscape’s air supply”, Bill was guilty of acting like…” more
  • 5 Key Interop 2012 Takeaways for CIOs and IT Pros May 14, 2012
    CIO writes “[by Jeff Vance]…After dozens of meetings and a slew of informal conversations, here are five key takeaways from Interop 2012 that CIOs should be aware of: Security needs to be throughout the network, and that’s no longer empty talk….DNS vulnerabilities are becoming too risky to ignore…. any single thread ties these five items together, it’s this: Organizations can’t avoid the cloud any longer. Too many vendors are shifting to the cloud for everything from…” more
  • UML Gets Better, But is Mobile Web Getting Worse? May 14, 2012
    Capgemini Group writes “[by Andy Mulholland]…is this going to turn into a new lock-in model? And if it is driven by Bring Your Own Device, BYOD, then it might seem the enterprise may not be making some of the choices. More than ever, all of this argues for enterprises to determine a strategy and policies quickly or risk finding themselves committed to a course of action without even realizing it. For example, it might be difficult for the CIO to…” more
  • Microsoft Presents a Vision of the Future May 14, 2012
    CTOvision writes “[by Bob Gurley]…Here is a Microsoft vision piece mean to show us some ways that future technologies can help us make better use of our time and get things done. It is a pretty cool video that can help us think through requirements for what we want out of the future. It features several devices…It is well worth a watch…” more
  • How to Find the Reverse Leaders in Your Midst May 14, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Scott Edinger]… I’m seeing more and more of these reverse leaders. But I’m not seeing many organizations able to recognize them — or cultivate their talents to gain a competitive advantage. What are the [5] characteristics you should be looking for to spot your reverse leaders? [1] They’re the ones with strong interpersonal skills born of self-awareness…[2] They focus more on results than on process…[3] They exhibit particularly high degrees of integrity…” more
  • Something is Different this Time Around with Career Choices May 14, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Gianpiero Petriglieri]…Members of generations whose defining experiences were of commitment and rebellion struggle to make sense of a generation whose members’ defining experiences are of uncertainty and flux. In the past, talented new people were keen to wrestle institutional conductors for the wheel of the bus. These days, many cannot wait to get off the bus…This generational transition could be less of a handover or a takeover, and more of a walkout,,,It is a clash of workplace civilizations…” more
  • The Application Age and Next-Generation Firewall Policy Decisions May 11, 2012
    Security_Bloggers_Network writes “[by Sam Erdheim]…When setting policies at an application level, you must understand each application, its business value to different users and any potential risks that come with it. More granularity leads to more rule sets and more rule sets lead to more complexity, so you need to have a plan and make sure that all involved teams are on board with it. When deploying more granular, next-generation firewall policies, here are some tips to think about:…” more
  • Relevance Dominates! Four Brand Strategies for Staying Relevant May 11, 2012
    HBR writes “[by David Aaker]…How does a brand stay relevant? How can a brand avoid the disinvest or milking decision? There are four strategies that can work…The selection of the optimal response will be context specific, but it will involve two questions. What is size of the relevance threat and its supporting trend? And what is a realistic judgment about the firm’s ability to innovate, add needed capabilities, and be successful in the marketplace? Complexities, interactions, and future uncertainties make them…” more
  • Cool Technology of the Week: Active Sync May 11, 2012
    John Halamka writes “…We think the best we can do within the limitations of present server-side technology is to enforce the use of passwords on all devices using Active Sync, require a timeout of 10 minutes, and eliminate the use of the most simple passwords (1234, 1111 etc). Microsoft Exchange/Active Sync can query the device for the settings currently in place and only synchronize email if the device adheres to enterprise security policies…” more
  • Want a Team to be Creative? Make it Diverse May 11, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Beth Comstock]…This is the opposite of groupthink, the creativity-killing phenomenon of too much agreement and too similar perspectives that often paralyzes otherwise great teams.Turning a critic into a passionate advocate and supporter is a great goal in innovation…And sometimes the necessary diverse view is one that isn’t way outside the norm: it can be right there in front of you…” more
  • Examples of the Qualification Filter when Someone Asks You for a Favor May 11, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Daniel Gulati]…The professional world is powered by favors — busy individuals helping those in their extended networks…Lately, though, I’ve been flooded with requests from my extended network…Here’s the one trick I use to separate those I actually help from those I choose to ignore: Qualify anyone who asks you for a favor. In other words, kindly direct the person to take an action…Here are some [3] examples of the qualification filter in action:…” more
  • Projects are the New Job Interviews May 10, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Michael Schrage]…the reason why I’m confident that “projects are the new job interviews” is not simply because I’m observing a nascent trend but because this appears to be a more efficient and effective mechanism for companies and candidates to gain the true measure of each other. Designing great applijects and projeclications will be a craft and art. The most successful utilizers will…” more
  • Culture Takes Over When the CEO Leaves the Room May 10, 2012
    HBR writes “[by Frances Frei, Anne Morriss]…Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time…As part of our research for Uncommon Service, we went hunting for patterns among organizations with highly effective service cultures. The companies we studied all demonstrated high levels of the following — call them the 3Cs of culture:…” more
  • The Flattened Firm — Not as Advertised May 10, 2012
    HBS Working Knowledge writes “[by Julie M. Wulf]…The alleged benefits of flattening flow primarily from pushing decisions downward to enhance customer and market responsiveness and to improve accountability and morale. Has flattening delivered on its promise to push decisions downward? In this article, I present evidence suggesting that while firms have delayered, flattened firms can exhibit more control and decision-making at the top. Managers take note. Flattening can lead to exactly the opposite effects from what it promises to do…” more