Archive | CIO/CTO

Gartner: Top 10 Strategic IT Trends For 2015

Gartner Sym 2014 LogoGartner Symposium/ITExpo is under way in Orlando. As always, their IT experts have identified what they believe to be the top-ten information technology trends for the year ahead. Strategic technology trends are defined as having potentially significant impact on organisations in the next three years. Here is a summary of the trends:

1. Computing Everywhere

With the continued advancement in smart-phone technology, Gartner assesses that an increased emphasis on serving the needs of the mobile user in diverse contexts and environments, as opposed to focusing on devices alone. Gartner posits that smart-phones and wearable devices are part of a broader computing offering to include connected screens in the workplace and in public spaces. User experience design will be of critical importance.

2. The Internet of Things (IoT)

The Internet of Things will continue to expand, propelled by the ubiquity of user-oriented computing. Gartner posits that this will be replicated both in industrial and in operational contexts, as it will be the focus of digital business products and processes. Embedding technology more deeply will create touch points for users everywhere. This will form the foundation of digital business.

3. 3D Printing

The cost of 3D printing will decrease in the next three years, leading to rapid growth of the market for these low-cost machines. Industrial use will also continue its rapid expansion. Gartner highlights that expansion will be especially great in industrial, biomedical and consumer applications, highlighting the extent to which this trend is real, proving that 3D printing is a viable and cost-effective way to reduce costs through improved designs, streamlined prototyping and short-run manufacturing.

4. Advanced, Pervasive, Invisible Analytics

Analytics will continue to advance due to the Internet of things and the embedded devices that trend will continue to foster. Vast pools of structured and unstructured data inside and outside organizations will continue to be generated. Gartner points out that every app will need to be an analytic app. The analysis also concludes that big questions and big answers are more important than big data.

5. Context-Rich Systems

Embedded intelligence that is ubiquitous combined with pervasive analytics will foster the development of systems that are alert and responsive to surroundings. Gartner highlights that context-aware security is an early application of this trend, but that others will emerge.

6. Smart Machines

Analytics combined with an understanding of context will usher in smart machines. Advanced algorithms will lead to systems that learn for themselves and act upon those learning’s. Gartner notes that machine helpers will continue to evolve from the existing prototypes for autonomous vehicles, advanced robots, virtual personal assistants and smart advisors. The analysis goes on to speculate that the smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT.

7. Cloud/Client Architecture

Mobile computing and cloud computing continue to converge and lead to the growth of centrally coordinated applications that can be delivered to any device. Gartner notes that cloud computing is the foundation of elastically scalable, self-service computing for both internally and externally facing applications. Apps that use intelligence and storage of client device effectively will benefit from lowering bandwidth costs, coordination and management will be based on the cloud. The analysis goes on to note that over time applications will evolve to support simultaneous use of multiple devices. In the future, games and enterprise applications alike will use multiple screens and exploit wearable’s and other devices to deliver an enhanced experience.

8. Software-Defined Infrastructure and Applications

Agile development methods for programming of everything from infrastructure basics to applications is essential to enable organisations to deliver the flexibility required to make the digital business work. Software defined networking, storage, data centres and security are maturing. Application programming interface (API) calls render cloud services software configurable, and applications have rich APIs to access their function and content programmatically. Gartner notes that in order to deal with the rapidly changing demands of digital business with demand shifts both up and down require computing to move away from static to dynamic models.

9. Web-Scale IT

Gartner notes that more companies will think, act, and build applications and infrastructure in the same way that technology stalwarts like Amazon, Google, and Facebook do.  There will be an evolution toward web-scale IT as commercial hardware platforms embrace the new models and cloud-optimised and software-defined methods become mainstream. Gartner notes that the marriage of development and operations in a coordinated way (referred to as DevOps) is the first step towards the web-scale IT.

10. Risk-Based Security and Self-Protection

Lastly, the analysis concludes that security will remain an important consideration through this evolution toward the digital future, but it should not be so heavy-handed as to impede progress. As many companies have recognized that 100 percent security solutions are not feasible, this will become more mainstream, and more sophisticated methods of risk assessment and risk mitigation from a process and tool perspective will be implemented. Gartner notes that perimeter defence will be broadly recognized as inadequate, and multi-faceted approaches will be devised.  Security aware application design, dynamic and static application security testing, and runtime application self-protection, combined with active context-aware and adaptive access controls will all be necessary.

 

0

The Changing Role of The CIO

This is my first piece for Samsung Business and is published here on the Samsung at Work site.

There are always many theories on the position of the CIO role, from the CIO role is dying through to should they be renamed the Chief Innovation Officer. The truth is that many still do not understand the CIO role and its place within the organisation. Many CEO’s and CFO’s still find it hard to understand IT and just see it as a money laundering operation rather than something that can add real value to the bottom line. It’s really up to CIO’s to stand up and be counted and show not only what they can bring to the table but prove they can be strategic, customer facing and deliver both innovation and revenue whilst making sure the technology still operates.

There is no doubt the CIO role has and is evolving constantly but that is true to say of all c-suite positions who want to stay relevant and ahead of the game.

As technology moves at such a pace, so must the CIO understand and work out the best way(s) to leverage it to add best value to their organisation.
Technology has seeped more in to our everyday lives and as a result the roles that manage it must adapt to become more innovative and constructive in the ways they use it.
Gone are the days of just making sure the equipment is in working order and the datacentre is operational – CIO’s are now measured on what they deliver to the bottom line and rightly so.
If you want a seat in the boardroom, you have to earn it and work very hard to keep it.

As the CIO role evolves it naturally starts to touch a lot of other technology areas such as digital and mobile.
This is where people are now saying they enter the CIO v CMO battleground with the victor seemingly the one who owns the digital space and ultimately the technology piece.
Politics aside, what’s to stop both working together? A quality CIO and CMO alliance would be a really formidable force in terms of delivering innovative and strategic solutions built around the needs of the customer.
Many companies are struggling with this ‘middle ground’ and anointing a new role, the Chief Digital Officer (CDO).
Does this only add more mud to the water of who owns what or is this another career path for marketing savvy CIO’s or tech savvy CMO’s?

What I do know is that if you add tangible value, deliver your strategic objectives, beat your KPI’s and deliver innovative solutions, you can choose your own job title and sit wherever you want in the boardroom.

0

Samsung Business at the Gartner Symposium IT Expo 2013 Barcelona

SamsungLogoI’m delighted to have been asked by Samsung Business to work with them at the Gartner Symposium IT Expo 2013 in Barcelona next week.

I will be capturing the event and creating a body of high quality content through live blogging and comment, insight and analysis articles published through this blog and my social channels.

Get involved, comment and follow me through this blog and my social channels through the Twitter hashtags #SamsungGSym and #GartnerSym

My blog pieces will be posted on the Samsung at Work site during and after the conference – link here

0

IT Industry Thought Leader and Featured Contributor – Intel IT Peer Network

Intel IT Peer NetworkI am proud to announce that I was asked to become an IT Industry Thought Leader and Featured Contributor on the Intel IT Peer Network – an IT facing community for IT professionals hosted by Intel.
Please find a link to the site here (registration may be required).

I will be contributing regularly through featured articles, so please take a look and get involved.

0

Operating Multi-Cultural, Geographically Dispersed Teams

Long before the days of Skype, intranets, and email – teams generally needed to be in the same location in order to work effectively.
Those days are long gone and many of us now work regularly with colleagues based in different cities, countries, and continents with team members in different time zones, speaking different languages, and from different cultures.
Teams can now include many varieties or flavours of working practices. Some members may work in groups of three or more in the same office, while others may work individually in separate offices or at home. You may see some team members regularly, but you may rarely see others or even have not met at all.

Regardless of how people are organised, managing a team that’s geographically dispersed can present big challenges, even for the most experienced bosses. How do you ensure that everyone feels they’re being treated fairly, if you see some team members much more than others? How can you prevent remote team members from feeling isolated? And how do you get all members to buy into the team’s objectives and stay on track?

When selecting people to work in a geographically dispersed team, it throws up the need for individuals with strong qualities such as self-motivation and the ability to work independently rather than those that need constant encouragement. They will need to have exceptional communication skills and be comfortable communicating regularly via Skype or conference call. Finally, and as with almost every hire you make, they need to be results-driven and comfortable being assessed using KPIs.
Reward performance fairly, consistently and appropriately across the group, making sure workers in remote offices feel as valued and rewarded as those in the same location as you.

The key for me with leading a geographically dispersed team is that it’s essential for members to unite around a common purpose – everyone must agree to the team’s strategic objectives and goals.
Breaking down your strategy and showing where each individual and team contributes to delivering it is an excellent and powerful way to achieve this. This “roadmap” for your team ensures that everyone is focused on what the whole IT organisation needs to deliver and how they enact within it.
From breaking down your strategy to the team or individual level, you can clearly define everyone’s roles and responsibilities, identify key resources, and decide how the team operates. This can then be used to set the relative goals and objectives that each individual can be assessed by.

You MUST create and operate a strong communications strategy, especially if your team members are in different time zones and speak different languages.
It is easy to misunderstand a message or directive if you’re being communicated with in a language that is not your mother tongue, so it’s imperative that you follow up as often as you can across your team(s) and make sure everyone understands and is clear on what you’re trying to achieve. Good meeting practice with clear agendas and well-written minutes should help allay any miscommunication.

It’s easy when managing geographically dispersed teams to not realise the morale of individuals is being effected, as due to the lack of daily contact you won’t be able to see their body language or detect any slight deviations in attitude.
It’s easy for individuals to think that your behaviour or lack of contact is a direct slight on their performance or lack of meaning to the cause.
They know you’re busy but be careful when communicating via email that your emails aren’t too abrupt or short, especially as they may be well be picked up and read differently in a time zone where they can’t instantly communicate with you to discuss or clarify the underlying tone. Also, make a rule for yourself that you don’t miss more than one team conference or video call in a row.

Don’t lose sight of the need to be personable and approachable to anybody no matter of their location or position, as there is more to leading geographically dispersed teams than just sitting in on conference calls or throwing out the option to email you if there’s an issue.

Trust me, people will really appreciate you just picking up the phone or making regular visits and hosting a team meal or evening drink – it helps to break down barriers and shows people that they are part of the larger team despite the size or location of their team.

Finally, its important to promote team bonding and if you can (budget permitting) get the whole team together at least once a year even if only for a couple of days or at a key location per region depending on size.
Make these events informative and a forum for creativity and discussion but don’t forget to add in a bit of fun through some social activities.

As well as this, look at setting up some inexpensive webcams for team members to Skype each other and an Intranet team page or forum where individuals can input suggestions or throw ideas around.
Tools such as Yammer, Chatter and Messenger can also allow constant contact and are great as an instant communication channel as they allow you to do things such as see that somebody in a remote location is available and crossing over on your time zone be they working late or coming in early.

This piece has also been posted on my Outsource Magazine column at http://dlvr.it/3wPhcn and here on The Business Value Exchange in my position as CIO ‘Thought Leader’.

2

Flexible IT Systems – Building Systems that can Overlap Across Functions

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Flexible IT Systems – Building Systems that can Overlap Across Functions.’
This piece is available in the IT-Enabled Business Innovation topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

0

Post Merger Integration – Do’s and Don’ts

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Post Merger Integration – Do’s and Don’ts.’
This is the last piece in a series that I have written for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

0

Communication and its Importance in the M&A process

My latest ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Communication and its Importance in the M&A process.’
This is my latest piece in a series that I am writing for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

0

Tips for Effective Due Diligence

My fourth ‘CIO Thought Leadership’ piece entitled, ‘Tips for Effective Due Diligence.’
This is the fourth piece in a series that I am writing for the Mergers and Acquisition topic section on The Business Value Exchange.
Read it here and get involved by leaving a comment.

0