Managing IT Infrastructure vs. Platforms

I was in an interesting discussion with one of my consulting clients recently.  I was with a group of IT managers responsible for their firm’s shared IT assets.  This is a large, global enterprise that has been on an aggressive journey over the last 5 years to transform business-IT maturity.  By any measure, they have been [...]

Reaching Level 3: The Mindset Factor

I’ve posted before on the role of ambition as a key factor in driving business-IT maturity.  I want to move beyond that and pick up the theme of mindset.  This is a topic I covered in today’s teleconference as part of our multi-client research project into business-IT maturity.
According to Wikipedia, Mindset refers to the set [...]

Podcast on Business-IT Maturity Model

 
I’m very proud that Tom Parish, host and audio producer for the excellent Enterprise Leadership web site, invited me to deliver a podcast on the Business-IT Maturity model.  Just click on the blue link above my photo, or right-click to download the mp3 file.
It was a great deal of fun to do - Tom asked [...]

Re-thinking Business-IT Maturity

It’s time to update our venerable Business-IT Maturity curve - this is a BIG DEAL!  (Well, at least it is to some of us!)
For the last 10 years or so I have been drawing a simplified version of the Business-IT Maturity curve as a single ‘S’ curve, or learning curve.  I typically talk about three [...]

Why ITIL is “Necessary but not sufficient”

My post yesterday claimed that ITIL is necessary, but not sufficient for reaching Level 3 Business-IT Maturity.  As anticipated, this has led to a fair amount of traffic, some showing up as commentary on the blog, others showing up as email messages from various vendors of Service Management and ITIL support services.  I therefore want [...]

ITIL: Necessary, but not sufficient!

 
I posted yesterday on the distinctions between IT Product Management and IT Service Management.  Rich Lemieux commented and pointed us to his helpful and informative DITY Newsletter and to his article on the 5 domains of ITIL V3 suggesting that IT organizations organize themselves around these domains as the “five new silos of IT.”
A couple of [...]

Elevating Business Demand Maturity - Victim or Leader?

 
I’ve touched on this theme in several posts, but I feel it’s time to call it out: don’t be a victim - be a leader!  I’m moved to get back into this because I continue to hear IT professionals bemoan the fact that “Our business partners just don’t want to use IT to innovate - [...]

New Year’s Resolutions for Reaching Level 3

 
Some suggestions for IT leaders who are determined to drive up the business value and impact of Information Technology during 2008:

I resolve to be more effective in raising awareness of the potential for information technology to drive business growth.  I will bring ‘marketing thinking’ to my IT organization, and focus on improving our business communications.  [...]

Reflections on 2007 - En Route to 2017

It seems like a good time of the year to reflect on significant milestones or events that somehow mark 2007 on the journey to 2017 for IT organizations.  Ten years from now, when students of IT organizational evolution look back on 2007, what might the year be remembered for?  I’ll split this into a couple [...]

CIO vs. CTO - What’s The Difference?

One of the blogs I’ve been monitoring lately has the intriguing subtitle “Organizations Get the IT They Deserve” - a one-liner I’ve used from time to time (and something I truly believe!)  The latest post “Starting a High Tech Business: You Need a CTO” is, per its title, oriented towards high-tech start-ups.  However, it’s a good discussion of [...]