Monthly Archives: July 2009

Time to Hang Up My Frequent Flyer Card!


man-with-yy-tshirtx-176x300Well, after 12 exciting years with nGenera Corp (and with The Concours Group which was acquired by nGenera 2 years ago) I have decided to change my lifestyle/workstyle and get off the frequent flyer treadmill.  I will continue to be affiliated with nGenera (working with them on multi-company research, executive education and limited consulting assignments) but will build a more “2.0″ based business – leveraging the tools and technologies my clients have been learning to exploit, and no longer climbing on airplanes almost every week of the year!

The Nightmare of Frequent Travel

There are many reasons for my taking a shift in path after all these years, but one major reason is air travel.  It was never much fun, but since 9/11 has become intolerable.  With over 5 million miles under my belt, I feel qualified and justified in uttering the immortal words from the 1976 movie, Network, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take this anymore!” (BTW, in writing this post, I viewed the YouTube clip from the movie – considering it is 33 years old, it seems remarkably timely!)

It’s not just the hassle and time wasted going through the indignities of TSA security.  It’s not just the incredible discomfort of the typical US domestic flight on a major airline (as an Atlanta resident, most of my travel is on Delta).  It’s the frequent delays and stress all this causes.  And I resent the high (and increasing) travel costs I have to pass on to my clients.  None of us win in this scenario (and looking at the financial health of the major airlines, they aren’t winning, either!)

Consulting From Home

I believe there is a potential win:win (for my clients, for me, for my family) in leveraging high speed Internet, video and web conferencing, social networking, and moving to a more electronically enabled client advice and counsel model.  I also believe this will provide more time for me to write (which I enjoy) and digitize at least some of what I’ve learned over the last 35 years in a form that is readily leveraged by the IT community.

Many people have asked that I turn the “meat” of the last 2 years of blogging into an eBook, so I plan to do just that.  And I have other ideas that I will percolate over the next couple of months.

Meanwhile, if you have an interest or need, please click on the “Consulting and Executive Counsel” tab at the top of the screen, or email me.

Cartoon image courtesy of ChiefHomeOfficer.com

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How “IT-Savvy” Is Your Company? Why Does That Matter?


weillross_300dpiRegular readers will know that from time to time I refer to research by Peter Weill, Chairman & Senior Research Scientist, Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) at the MIT Sloan School of Management.  I’ve had the privilege of knowing Dr. Weill for many years, and having collaborated with him on several multi-company research initiatives.

Peter and his colleague and co-author Jeanne Ross recently published their latest book called IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go from Pain to Gain.

This is an excellent and important book.  It is notably the first book by this duo written for the top executive community, rather than for IT professionals – the target readership for prior Weill/Ross books.  I’m well known for repeating the mantra, “Organizations get the IT they deserve!” This book really reinforces the leadership roles and practices that help converge business and IT.  The ideas are beautifully organized, clearly presented and convincingly illustrated by interesting case studies.

I don’t want to pretend that one book can, by itself, move you along the road to “premium return on IT.”  But it sure is a great resource and, most importantly, a way to educate your key stakeholders what it takes to get on the right road!

Practices that Earn a Premium Return on IT

The authors, building on 15 years of research, describe what they refer to as the “Three Obsessions of the IT-Savvy Firm.”  These are:

  1. Fixing What’s Broken About IT.
  2. Building a Digitized Platform.
  3. Exploiting the Platform for Profitable Growth

Citing several case studies to illustrate their points and help make the practices real, they work through issues of business operating model and the IT implications of operating model choices: IT funding model, digitized platforms, governance, driving value, and leadership.

Read, Share and Discuss!

Read this book with the idea of sharing it with your business partners and stakeholders.  Set up or take advantage of current opportunities to drive dialog around the implications of IT Savvy to your organization.

I believe you will recognize in the IT Savvy book many of the practices, recommendations, and “vignette’s” that surface in this blog from time.  In fact, Peter and Jeanne’s work over the years, and my research experiences with Peter, has greatly influenced my belief system, and with it, my approach to IT management consulting, at least over the last 15 years!

Book Cover Image Courtesy of Harvard Business Press

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An Operating System for a Web-based World?


168033-google_chrome_series_originalConsidering that the general domain for this blog, as its name implies, is the evolution of the enterprise IT organization towards the year 2017 (10 years from when I started this blog), Google‘s announcement of its planned Chrome OS is, I believe, a very big deal – or, at least, will prove to be over the next 3 to 5 years.

Most of my consulting clients have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft in general, and Windows in particular.  Microsoft takes an increasingly significant bite out of the IT budget, and the cost of resources needed to keep PC‘s running and secure is a substantial burden on enterprise IT organizations – one they they get little to no credit for.  (As I’ve noted before, IT infrastructure activities such as keeping PC’s running are only visible when they fail!)

Overshooting User Requirements

Clayton Christensen, in his classic book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail” points out that over time, through a successive series of minor innovations, products tend to overshoot a their performance needs beyond which the typical user can absorb.  (How much of Windows do you really need and use?  How many features of MS Office go unused by all but the hardiest of users?)  This overshooting of product capabilities leaves great openings for new market entrants to come in well below current performance thresholds with products that fully meet the needs of the typical user, without the encumbrances of the bells and whistles – often derisively referred to as “bloatware.”  That is the play being made successfully today with Netbooks.  That is also the play, I believe, Google made previously with Google Apps, and is now making with Chrome OS.  But in the latter case, its not just a stripped down OS (with the speed and simplicity benefits that brings), but an OS designed from the outset for a Web-based universe.

Inevitably, not everyone believes Chrome OS will be a slam dunk for Google.  (See for example, David Coursey’s Tech Inciter blog at PC World – Five Reasons Google Chrome OS Will Fail.)  I personally don’t buy David’s arguments – they mostly seem to be relative to today’s marketplace.   I believe the enterprise market will be more than ready for such an innovation by the time it really hits the marketplace, and that Google Chrome OS represents the first real threat to Microsoft hegemony over the desktop.  It’s also interesting to note that in the same week Google made this announcement, they also removed the “beta” designation from Google Mail (a beta that was 5 years in the making!)

What do you think?  Are you likely to switch from Windows if Chrome OS delivers against its promises?

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