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 [...]

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.  [...]

IT Funding and the “Stealth Infrastructure” Trap

Another common sticking point that shows up in IT funding approaches in Level 2is the “stealth infrastructure” trap.  The logic (or illogic!) behind this is, “The business does not understand all this infrastructure stuff (or plug in your enterprise-wide IT improvement initiative du jour - e.g., SOA, Enterprise Architecture) so we will squirrel away funds [...]

IT Funding and the Level 2 Sticking Point

One of the more intractable sticking points on the journey to Level 3 Business-IT Maturity is in the IT funding model - the ways that IT prices its products and services, and recovers its costs (and, it a profit center, covers its margin).
Life as a consultant is tough.  I’m not complaining, but we have to [...]