Business Transformation Requires Transformational Leaders

Even the most innocuous-seeming technology can't escape the malevolent grip of information security risks today. Like the cute ground squirrel carrying bubonic plague, instant messaging, a harmless enough technology on its face, is the facilitator of some truly ghastly viruses and worms.

Given the poor track record of success for long-term, large-scale outsourcing agreements, it is no wonder that a growing number of organizations are seriously considering taking a new path for their sourcing strategies. Rather than give up on the idea of outsourcing entirely, many organizations are adopting a more selective, or "out-tasking," approach aimed at downsizing the scope of their third-party agreements in order to increase the likelihood of their success.

For years now, CIOs have contended with business management's questions about the value of IT. But this is only half of the issue: CIOs also have to contend with the cost of IT. In our experience, the ways in which IT cost is managed -- how IT's cost affects the business units -- is a critical element of IT management and governance. For example, it's hugely different whether business units pay for IT (with fungible money) or whether the costs are assigned to them.

IT managers and executives alike see time accounting as dreaded paperwork -- a drudge activity that satisfies the auditors and ensures vendors get paid. Most IT time accounting systems reflect this mentality -- providing a rear-view-mirror illustration of how IT resources were spent in the previous month or quarter. IT organizations are missing a major opportunity by not viewing time accounting as a strategic initiative that gives their managers the ability to get the most business value from their expensive IT resources.

Ten to fifteen years ago, a lot was being written about the concept of coopetition. This was just at the beginning of the huge growth in technology -- capabilities, products, companies, and, of course, stock value. Well, things have cooled off a bit since then; however, the concept is just as relevant today, if not more so. We just don't hear much about it because most companies have learned how to better manage their relationships with vendor partners.

I recently bought some computers for some family members and while it wasn't horrible to set them up (with color coded cables and all) it reminded me that while we've made tremendous progress over the past twenty years, we're still largely slaves to mechanical devices connected to each other -- though not necessarily the Web -- with cables. We also still use a lot of paper and ink.

In earlier Advisors, I have discussed that over the last four or five years, I've worked with a significant number of product companies in implementing agile development and project management practices (see "Management's Performance Levers, Part 1," 29 June 2006, "Management's Performance Levers, Part 2," 13 July 2006, and "Management's Performance Leve

Every family has one. It's the individual who comes to visit, and as soon as he/she arrives at the door, all are aware it will be a long row to hoe. The conversation will be awkward; the messages will be mixed and the frustration will be palpable. But, as this individual walks out the door, we find ourselves saying those magic words -- "Don't be a stranger!" We could prevent these awkward moments in simple fashion. Banish this individual from our lives forever. Refuse access. Deny admission.