For all of the talk about the commoditisation of IT in the last decade, the amount of technology consumed within organisations that is truly of a commodity nature (in particular, is completely fungible) is very small. We build relationships with vendors and service providers, some key, some less so. Getting out of a purely customer/supplier … Continue reading CIO Priorities 13 – strategic partnerships
The needs of organisations for what technology departments should provide in house have changed dramatically in my working life. From an emerging cost, to a cost to be managed, to a service to be outsourced to a source of competitive advantage, IT isn't what it was 25 years ago (yes, I really have been working … Continue reading CIO Priorities 12 – a new brand for IT
Seems a simple question, doesn't it? Where do you work? And yet as we sit on the edge of what we are being told as being the beginnings of seismic shifts in patterns of how we work, my hunch is that the responses to that question are changing, will continue to change, and for many … Continue reading Where do you work?
Collaboration as a term has many meanings within organisations. All too often, though, it's something that everybody thinks is a terribly good idea, but is also somebody else's problem. Some IT leaders are stepping up to the challenge. Whilst many think that the answer lies in new technology platforms (spoiler: it doesn't) a few are … Continue reading CIO Priorities 11 – better collaboration
The particular types of technology mentioned in this card will be cyclical. Twenty years ago there would have been web browsers and data warehouses. Today you'll see AI and Machine Learning, and possibly distributed ledger technologies. In a year or two the fashions will change. Some of these technologies are ground-breaking. Some of them aren't. … Continue reading CIO Priorities 10: Exploring new stuff
There's a common misconception that the world of technology is one that is spent on the cutting edge. You only need to look at most organisations' standard PCs to realise how far from reality that can be. For most technology teams, the lion's share of time is taken up providing what's already there. The support … Continue reading CIO Priorities 9: time for innovation
This week I have learned: the sheer bloody opulence that 18th and 19th century wealth was able to afford. that Facebook's Workplace products biggest competitor is probably WhatsApp. Which is a problem for them. I bloody love the World Cup. I also love the new Watford kit. IKEA is basically Lego for grown-ups. An idea … Continue reading Weeknote 391: Calcio
We are frequently hearing that there is a skills gap in the UK for the world of tech. The last few years have also seen a big push from the UK Government to develop apprenticeship schemes in businesses to provide vocational routes of education for the young. In that light, it's not surprising that some … Continue reading CIO Priorities 8: Apprenticeships
Having a diverse workforce is ethically and morally the right thing to do. Morals and ethics and business, however, can sadly be uncomfortable bedfellows. Having a diverse workforce is economically the right thing to do, though, because more diverse teams solve problems more effectively. Check out Scott Page's The Difference for a more detailed examination of … Continue reading CIO Priorities 7: Diversity
CIO Priority 6: Move to Infrastructure as a Service One of my proudest moments as a technology leader was when, about 8 years ago, I closed down one of the server rooms at my organisation. We had shifted out from machines being tended in our London offices, to services delivered from The Cloud. That that … Continue reading CIO Priorities 6: IaaS
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