Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

This Executive Report introduces the API Economy to CxO-level executives of industries outside IT. It follows a novel dialogue format, as if it were a transcription of an introductory consulting session with the CEO and CIO of a fictional company in the oil and gas industry. The report defines API and the API Economy, discusses some of the many API business models, argues that this economy extends a proven software architecture onto the Internet, presents that architecture as a tool for thinking about business models, and discusses the role of developer relations in making APIs successful. The report then applies these ideas to the task of solving one of the fictional company's billion-dollar business problems using an API-based approach.

Budgets are plans that reflect beliefs about the future of an organization. While couched in monetary terms associated with an organization's specific industry, the gestalt of the message is one that transcends all lines of business. In short, internal financial reports as well as economic news delivered via the media can be seen across a range of optimistic and pessimistic views from the budget planner's desk.

This has been an interesting seventh year, particularly with the analysis of corporate compared to BU services organizations. Overall, the key point remains: IT's costs is an important component of IT management, in general, and IT governance, in particular. CIOs and business managers are encouraged to pay close attention to the patterns of their budgeting practices and the issues of how costs are identified and assigned to business units. These are relevant to the entire process of understanding the value of IT and its implications for the company as a whole.

This issue is the seventh installment in our annual series on IT budgeting. Together, our authors have given us keen insight into both the current practice of the IT budgeting discipline and the underlying assumptions that inform IT budgeting practice, as well as a solid "big picture" understanding of both the past and the future.