For CIOs

IT Leadership Maturity Checkup

IT's Operations Are More Mature Than Stakeholder Relationships, Strategy Links

by Bobby Cameron, February 22, 2007

Forrester has taken its IT leadership maturity model and tested it against the experience of 84 senior IT executives. This checkup looks at three sets of IT practices: linking technology to business strategy, running IT operations as a business, and relating . . .

The Emerging IT Ecosystem

The Line Between Technology And Service Will Blur At A Faster Pace

by Andrew Parker, Tom Pohlmann, January 2, 2007

Market forces of commoditization, miniaturization, industrialization, and globalization, along with changing buyer sentiments, will accelerate a shift in the dominant form of IT delivery by 2012 — from buyers self-integrating technology to having it assembled . . .

Moving From Reactive To Strategic IT

Use Business-Focused Enterprise Architecture To Make It Happen

by Alex Cullen, December 27, 2006

IT execs are continually challenged with aligning business needs for IT capabilities with the capabilities that IT provides. Firms employ a number of different approaches to close the gap that don't go far enough. Gaps remain between the business's desire . . .

Ready, Fire, Aim: Does Your Go-To-Market Strategy Explicitly Create Customer Value?

by Norbert Kriebel, November 2, 2006

Confusing customers and prospects is not a successful long-term strategy for vendors. Unfortunately, that is what vendors ultimately do when they do not explicitly align their go-to-market strategy with the business requirements of stakeholders in their . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

The Root Of The Problem: Poor Requirements

Three Strategies For Addressing Three Types Of Requirements Problems

by Carey Schwaber, September 1, 2006

The quality of software requirements is a limiting factor on the success of software development projects. And it's the rare IT organization that couldn't improve its requirements practices. When it comes to getting requirements right, companies struggle . . .

Creating The Strategic Plan For Today's IT

Planning How To Run IT Like A Business

by Alex Cullen, June 8, 2006

IT's strategic plan is an essential tool to run IT like a business. The strategic plan for today's IT is different from the strategic plans that IT may have developed five years ago. It is purpose-driven and a complement to IT governance structures and . . .

Gap Analysis and Realignment Are Key to Bringing Outsourcer/Customer Relationships Back on Track

by Mike Dodd, June 20, 2002

Anybody coming anew to a position involving managing the outsourcer/client relationship should analyze the current perception of contractual performance among key stakeholders on the client side, comparing them with original business objectives.