I read the summer reading guide for IT pros on CIO Insight. It reminded me of the days I worked for AT&T Solutions, an “insightful” consulting firm within AT&T that picked “futurizing” as it’s mantra. We couldn’t get out of the starting blocks because of all the “ideating” that was going on. We read ALL the books but they were about as bad, in terms of practical action, as the organization I was a part of.
One book CIO Insight missed, which has completely changed my thinking about the highest impact actions a company can take, is Advanced Project Portfolio Management …read more

What good is analyzing trends? Well, first of all you can determine whether you agree with them. Then decide if they will impact you. If so, you need to figure out how to deal with them. The last few posts have done this type of analysis from an “every company” point of view, and here are the results:
First a summary of the STRATEGY and MANAGEMENT trends from CIO Insight’s list of Top IT Trends in 2008 in as brief a format as I dare:
Economic slowdown, customer e-service demands, m-commerce opportunities, technology enabled process improvement, change in world markets and resources, …read more

My sum up to CIO Insight’s Top IT Trends in 2008 related to MANAGEMENT reveals a need to focus on centralizing non-IT executive control vs. expanding the CIO role, and cleaning up and innovatively using data already out there for decision-making.
The CIO Insight MANAGEMENT trends of 1. No downturn for CIO role, 2. CIO role becoming more demanding, 3. IT metamorphosis continuing, 4. IT grad shortage changing the face of IT, 5. IT outsiders providing inspiration, and 6. Master Data Management expanding, caused these reactions in my two posts related to MANAGEMENT:

Focus on centralizing non-IT executive control and awareness of …read more

Continuing with MANAGEMENT trends in IT from CIO Insight’s Top IT Trends for 2008 , we now deal with graduate shortages, sources of innovation, and one of the most interesting and impactful trends toward Master Data Management:
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CIO Insight: IT grad shortage changes the face of IT- CIOs expect fewer young people to enter the IT profession and say half of those that graduate with IT and computer science degrees aren’t well prepared.
PM411: I’m not as tuned in to this “shortage” of talent. Should companies expect IT graduates to be prepared properly? I’m jaded by my MBA experience years ago …read more

CIO Insight’s Top IT Trends for 2008 were particularly interesting in the STRATEGY and MANAGEMENT areas. My last three posts dealt with STRATEGY. Now I’ll react to the MANAGEMENT trends . First up are the trends related to the role of the CIO and the metamorphosis of IT:
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CIO Insight: No downturn for CIO role- the CIO role will become more important and the IT function will grow more centralized.
PM411: This “prediction” has been talked about for 20 years- the problem is not solved by CIO role expansion, but by executive governance boards taking the responsibility for which projects should be …read more

My sum up to CIO Insight’s Top IT Trends in 2008 related to STRATEGY reveals a need to focus on how projects are managed and controlled and how PMOs contribute to innovation.
The CIO Insight STRATEGY trends of 1. companies slipping into slow-down mode, 2. IT focusing on E-Service, 3. …and preparing for M-Commerce, 4. process improvement driving IT adoption and 5. the world getting flatter, caused these strong reactions in my two posts related to STRATEGY:

Make sure projects fit with strategies,

Don’t underestimate customer-facing projects,

Use a PMO to research business process innovation, and

Pay attention to changes in “growing market” living standards …read more

Continuing with my reaction to the STRATEGY trends from CIO Insight’s Top IT Trends for 2008 :
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CIO Insight: “Process improvement will drive IT adoption- CIOs see process modeling and management applications as the most important development five to 10 years from now.”
PM411: YES! Business process modeling will technology-enable the innovation process. Still need strong research of innovation going on outside the company, the industry, and your country, to feed modeling efforts.
CIO Insight: “The world gets flatter- strong foreign economies and technical workforces present opportunities for growth, savings and technology.”
PM411: This will be interesting to watch as the living standards increase …read more

CIO Insight took a shot at the Top IT Trends in 2008 recently. They separated the trends into four categories: STRATEGY, MANAGEMENT, SECURITY and TECHNOLOGY. I am dealing with the trends in STRATEGY and MANAGEMENT in my next few posts. Here’s CIO Insight’s view of the initial STRATEGY trends followed by my reactions:
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CIO Insight: Companies slip into slow-down mode- spending on services, projects with poor return on investment will be hit first, followed by staff at larger companies.
PM411: Why not cut projects that don’t fit with strategies first? If return on investment is applied to individual projects, without alignment with strategies …read more