business-technology

Ban the Word “Alignment” From Your Architecture

by

Something about the typical language of enterprise architecture is starting to bug me. The overuse of the word “alignment”. When people are asked to describe what enterprise architecture is all about, they often answer with the phrase “it’s about the alignment of IT with business strategy”. But is that enough? Should it be something more? […]

Some BYOD Technology Recommendations

by

This is the sixteenth post in my series on BYOD. In my last post on the subject I discussed a range of technologies that can be used to solve issues raised by BYOD. Here I’d like to give my broad recommendations around which of those technologies are most likely to solve the kinds of problems […]

Does Your Architecture Pass the “So What” Test?

by

Does your architecture pass the “So What” test? Can you demonstrate the specific value that a particular architectural deliverable or activity will add? If not, why are you even bothering? In this case, as with justice, your activity must not just add value, it must be seen to add value. A number of recent discussions […]

Outsourcing: Beyond cheap labour

by

Skills, best practice and business alignment mean outsourcing is here to stay (First published in ComputerworldUK) Is the IT offshoring trend we have seen over the last few decades now beginning to reverse whereby outsourcers and their customers are beginning … Continue reading →

Take A Better Look At Cloud Risks

by

If you have ever had a debate about whether your organisation should use cloud computing  then a discussion of the risks of cloud computing will have been a significant part of it. In doing so, we often fall into a simple logical trap. Cloud computing is just one of the options that we have.  The […]

What Are You Doing To Get Off XP?

by

In case you haven’t heard Microsoft is ending support for Windows XP and Office 2003 in April of 2014. What this means is that Microsoft will no longer patch security vulnerabilities discovered in XP or Office 2003, and therefore there will be security holes discovered that can be exploited by hackers which will never be […]

An Overview of Mobility and BYOD Technology

by

This is the fifteenth post in my series on BYOD. I have mostly avoided talking about technology, as in many ways that is the least important, and the most straightforward aspect of dealing with BYOD. Most people automatically think of Mobile Device Management (MDM) when they think of mobile or BYOD technology, but that is far from […]

Privacy Matters for BYOD

by

This is my fourteenth post in my series on BYOD. This recent article on Infoworld about how the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs has put its BYOD plans on hold illustrates the point that you need to consider and cover off employee privacy when implementing BYOD. As I understand the article, they are putting their […]

Some Thoughts on Outsourcing

by

Link: http://dougnewdick.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/some-thoughts-on-outsourcing/

From Doug Newdick's Blog

I was discussing outsourcing with a friend the other day. I work in government IT, and outsourcing is used widely in government. He was discussing the tricky nature of being brought in as an independent vendor to the outsourcing vendor. What this brought up was something that is often overlooked in outsourcing deals, especially major ones. That is: any organisation that outsources a function (such as its IT) usually does so in the hope of saving money by shedding large amounts of staff. But, they usually don’t factor in that they will need additional staff with different skills to manage that outsourcer.

Read more

0

Big Issues Facing Business Technology in 2013 and Beyond

by

In these challenging times it is more than ever crucial to separate the real trends from fads and fashions and to be able to identify the big issues, business agendas and threats and opportunities shaping business in 2013 and beyond … Continue reading →

Big Issues Facing Business Technology in 2013 and Beyond

by

In these challenging times it is more than ever crucial to separate the real trends from fads and fashions and to be able to identify the big issues, business agendas and threats and opportunities shaping business in 2013 and beyond … Continue reading →