Truth from the Trenches
Articles by Mark.Settle
Truth from the Trenches
Information technology – what is it good for?
Technology fads come and go over time but the fundamental business benefits that IT can deliver remain the same. Any technology initiative that can produce dramatic improvements in process automation, data democratization or ease of use will materially improve the business credibility of your company’s IT team and likely enhance the career prospects of its leaders.
Truth from the Trenches
5-stage self-help program for confronting talent debt within your organization
IT leaders bemoan the technical debt afflicting their core systems but rarely confront the talent debt afflicting their workforce. This self-help program enables leaders to accelerate the transition from denial to action in dealing with their talent debt issues.
Truth from the Trenches
How to establish a security culture within IT
It’s impossible to establish a security culture within a modern enterprise if it doesn’t already exist within IT. IT organizations should have pervasive and conspicuous security cultures that can serve as examples to all other parts of a corporation. Here are six management triggers that IT leaders can use to build such cultures.
Truth from the Trenches
Minimizing the distance between IT and your company’s paying customers
Most IT organizations receive feedback from their company’s paying customers through functional teams that each possess a unique perspective regarding true customer needs. Establishing communication channels that promote more direct interactions with paying customers can improve IT’s business effectiveness and, in some cases, ensure its survival.
Truth from the Trenches
Managing enterprise application architectures in 2020: the game has changed!
Enterprise architecture teams that attempt to rationalize and standardize employee engagement applications do so at their own peril. Their recommendations will likely be ignored and their roles as champions of technology innovation will be marginalized.
Truth from the Trenches
The new CIO playbook (psst…this works well for other IT leadership jobs, too)
Newly appointed CIOs have a limited window of opportunity to establish the credibility and relationships they need to implement their change agendas. This playbook may not guarantee success, but it can go a long way towards reducing the risk of failure during the all-important first year on the job.
Truth from the Trenches
Managing your innovation pipeline
Successful innovation in a commercial enterprise is a matchmaking exercise that establishes a long-term marriage between a business opportunity and a new or emerging technology.
Truth from the Trenches
What job security lessons can CIOs learn from the NFL?
The on-the-job management challenges confronting CIOs and NFL coaches are very similar. Their average job tenures are similar as well. CIOs seeking to improve their personal job security might be well-advised to spend a little more time listening to ESPN during the upcoming NFL season and asking themselves if they’re committing any of the same mistakes plaguing the leaders of chronically underperforming NFL teams.
Truth from the Trenches