Chris Curran

The Mindset of a Mobile Ready Enterprise

by

Guest Post by Daniel Eckert The mobile device is changing the customer experience and forcing organizations to re-think how they engage with their customers and employees. Many companies are beginning to understand how mobile devices can grow customer loyalty, generate new revenue streams and improve customer experience. However, they may be slow to realize how decision-making, workflow, collaboration, content delivery, and the right information at the right time can enhance the employee experience. A company’s […]

Why the CIO Should Heed Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits

by

Steven Covey, author of the highly acclaimed management book, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” passed away recently. I’m dedicating a post to him because his book and teachings were memorable during my early management training and his simple, but profound principles are particularly timely for CIOs today. When I look back at Covey’s legacy, two overarching themes come to mind: working effectively with others and time management. Both are interrelated and incredibly relevant […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. 5 Steps to Brighten Shadow IT

5 Steps to Brighten Shadow IT

by

With the popularity of public cloud offerings, BYOD and personal productivity apps, rogue technology acquisitions (at least from IT’s perspective) are more pervasive than ever, creating a new focus on “Shadow IT.” Our 2012 Digital IQ study of 489 executives found that 30% of technology procurement is outside the CIO’s budget. A wise proverb says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” What if you need […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. 6 Steps to Close the IT Skill Gap
  2. 4 Steps to Manage Your Technology Portfolio
  3. Why the CIO Should Heed Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits

Should the CIO Ban Email?

by

I was at a conference last week where I heard about a CIO who is banning email. Looks like we’re not finished having a conversation about how email is hampering employee productivity. What tools and techniques can CIOs employ to improve enterprise communications in the face of a proliferation of channels? Is trading email for social collaboration tools the answer or do we need to change employee behavior? How about using the right tools at […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. BYOD and Your CEO
  2. Time is Running Out for the CIO to Lead on Social Media
  3. How a CIO Can Help Improve America’s Education

SMAC: Hype or Reality?

by

Have you heard the latest technology acronym that is revving up business executives? Vendors claim that SMAC – Social, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud – is the quadruple mix of technological elements that will rescue businesses from potential irrelevancy. If executives fall for the SMAC hype, they could end up smacking themselves in the forehead with regret. I read an article recently about how the Indian IT industry is shifting to take advantage of the SMAC […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. Business Innovation or IT Innovation?
  2. 5 Roles for IT Innovators
  3. Stop the Web 2.0 Flood

Cloud Computing and Security: Do You Know Where Your Data Is?

by

Migrating more data and applications to the cloud is top of CIO’s to-do list right now. 52% of the 489 business and technology executives who responded to our 2012 Digital IQ study plan to boost their spending in the private cloud this year. Those same firms are simultaneously setting their sights on the public cloud. 57% of the leadership surveyed claim they are ramping up their investments in public clouds. Understandably, security is weighing heavy […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. The Era of Security Breaches
  2. Why Cloud Computing Has Legs
  3. CIO Guide to Cloud Computing

4 Easy Ways to Kill Innovation

by

How should we innovate? Business and technology leaders ask me this question a lot these days. I often respond with another question. Why do you want to innovate? Nothing kills innovation faster than a lack of focus. A financial services CTO established a technology innovation team to explore.  “Explore what?” I asked.  “Emerging technologies that might help us” was his answer.  Not convinced enough focus was there, we refined the scope of his efforts using […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. Demystifying Business Innovation
  2. Business Innovation or IT Innovation?
  3. Medical Technology Innovation

BYOD and Your CEO

by

What’s small, shiny and keeps CIOs up at night? The CEO’s personal devices. CEOs are like every other employee. They love tablets, smart phones and apps. The glaring difference is that the CEO’s personal devices put the company at much greater risk than the gadgets of virtually all other employees combined. CIOs must  include chief executives in conversations as they grapple with putting BYOD security policies and procedures in place. Many CEOs criss-cross the globe […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. How the CIO Can Establish a BYOD Usage Policy
  2. Building a BYOD Ready Infrastructure
  3. What’s the CIOs Role in Compliance?

Is Social Media Leadership Critical for a CIO?

by

Do CIOs need to engage and evangelize public social media networks to effectively lead their organizations in social media initiatives? Or is facilitating connection and collaboration among employees and clients enough? Who is most responsible for cultivating a social corporate culture? These are the questions I asked myself after reading the news that only about 10 percent of CIOs in the Fortune 250 are using public social networks. According to harmon.ie’s research, a paltry 4% […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. Time is Running Out for the CIO to Lead on Social Media
  2. “None” is Not a Social Media Strategy
  3. Social Media as the CIO’s Trojan Horse

The Value of Visualization

by

Recently I was discussing a history project with my son.  He was writing a paper about the inconsistencies in access to clean water in all parts of the world and their causes.  In researching the history of urban water access, he came across the story of the outbreak of cholera in the mid-1800′s in London and the impact it had on modern medicine. A young doctor, John Snow, proposed that cholera was carried in contaminated food […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. The Era of Security Breaches

Social Collaboration vs. Quiet Contemplation

by

Roughly 20-30% of the population is acknowledged introverts and it’s no secret that IT has its fair share. One of the more famous is Steve Wozniak who dreamt up the first Apple computer in solitude. It’s highly unlikely that this quantum leap of imagination that changed the world would have bubbled to the surface in a boisterous brainstorming session. That’s because introverts like Wozniak excel in low-key environments and crave quiet to create, as Susan […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. Social Collaboration: Four Steps to Success
  2. Enterprise Collaboration – What’s Your Problem?
  3. Social Media Monitoring and Analysis

Whiteboard Culture: An Organizational Competitive Advantage?

by

Guest post by Sachal Lakhavani Does your organization have a whiteboard culture?  When faced with complex problems or collaborating with people with different perspectives, do the people in your organization draw to communicate in a dynamic and visual way, or do they rely solely on verbal explanations and static Powerpoint slides? I recently attended a panel at SXSW that was instructively entitled “Shut up and Draw.” The panelists, Dan Roam, Sunni Brown and Jessica Hagy, […]

If you liked this, you might also like:

  1. Social Collaboration vs. Quiet Contemplation