Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Social Responsibility's Strategic Benefits
December 15, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Ed Granger-Happ, CIO of Save the Children, for a discussion of how creating an organization that is socially responsible improves staffing, retention, leadership development and overall corporate health.
Working With and Communicating to Your Board of Directors
January 13, 2009, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)
CIO panelists who will share tips and experiences working with their boards: Twila Day of SYSCO; Jeff O'Hare, West Corp.; Marc West, formerly with H&R Block.
IT's Role in Growing Mid-Market Companies
January 14, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET (GMT-5)
Mid-market Council members will share their companies' stories and challenges in driving or coping with growth. Panelists represent Veterinary Pet Insurance, Medicis Pharmaceutical, and Intrax Cultural Exchange.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!
December 04, 2008 — CIO — As businesses tighten their belts in response to the recession, they're turning to project and portfolio management software to help them identify which IT projects are mission critical and to help them execute those projects as efficiently as possible.
Increasingly, they're opting for software as a service (SaaS) versions of project management and portfolio management solutions because software as a service is cheaper and easier to deploy than traditional, on premise software, according to tech industry analysts and customers who've gone the SaaS route. (SaaS is also known as hosted or on demand offerings.)
Melinda Ballou, program director for IDC's application lifecycle management research, says demand for software as a service versions of project management and portfolio management tools was on the rise prior to the collapse of the financial services industry in the fall, and that despite the recession, she expects demand for hosted project portfolio management (PPM) solutions to continue. The market for IT project portfolio management software is expected to hit $791.6 million in 2008, up from $679 million in 2007, according to IDC's estimates. Software as a service versions of project portfolio management solutions are a growing segment of the larger IT project portfolio management market.
"On demand PPM tools don't require a huge investment upfront to deploy and implement—both the cost and risk are significantly less," says Ballou. "In addition, companies urgently seeking to better coordinate increasingly scarce resources across projects, programs and portfolios can get the functionality benefits very quickly."
Cost and the need to improve service were on the minds of executives at Chicago's Department of Public Health and 24-by-7, a small, Denver-based provider of telephone maintenance and installation services, when they selected hosted project management software from CA and Clarizen respectively, to help them run their businesses.
Carlo Govia, the Chicago Department of Public Health's CFO and first deputy commissioner, says his organization went with a software as a service project portfolio management solution to avoid maintaining software in-house. "It's not a cost-effective way for us to manage our infrastructure," says Govia. "We thought it was better to outsource that functionality so we can focus on the core health services we provide."
Indeed, the Chicago Department of Public Health will begin using CA's Clarity PPM On Demand solution in early 2009, to measure the effectiveness of the health services the department provides, to better orchestrate evacuation exercises and simulated outbreaks of chemical and biological agents, and to better manage grant money, says Govia.
Just the basics, please. Sometimes we all need a refresher or we need to make sure our team and our colleagues are all on the same page.
Over 25 tutorials on everything from business intelligence to virtualization.