Can We Make IT Any More Complex Than It Is?

One of the reasons that the rest of the company doesn’t seem to really like those of us in the IT department is because we seem to make everything so much more complex when we get involved. First it was our networking issues (Frame Relay, ATM, Ethernet), then it was our server issues (multicore, Intel … Read more

Does IHOP Have Tasty Lessons To Serve Up For IT?

I don’t know about you, but I’m always open to having breakfast no matter what time of day it is. This might explain why so much of my life has been spent sitting in IHOP restaurants eating mountains of pancakes. When I stumbled across an interview with IHOP’s CIO in eWeek magazine, I was of … Read more

IT vs Sales: The YouTube Version

Yeah, so I’m really impressed with how I write. But this time around I’m more than willing to admit that I’ve been out classed by a video that’s up on YouTube: “The Great Office War”. This video is very appropriate for work (no problems if the boss catches you watching it). We’ve talked here a … Read more

We’re In A Recession, What’s An IT Department To Do?

Remember what happened to the IT industry back in 2001? When the dot.com bubble burst, pretty much the sky started falling and IT spending hit the proverbial brick wall. If you’ve been reading the newspapers or watching TV lately, then you’ve probably noticed that the global economic downturn sure looks like what we saw back … Read more

What Should A CIO’s Top 10 Concerns Be Right Now?

Let’s take a quick snapshot of the business world as it stands right now: uncertainties (and hope) about a new president coming in, financial markets don’t seem to be responding to stimulus programs, gas is down to $2.00 / gallon but for how long, and Paris Hilton hasn’t been hear from for most of the … Read more

Are CIOs Looking Down When They Should Be Looking Up?

Rob Preston over at Information Week was talking about some interesting CIO studies that were done recently and what they show is that it looks like CIOs are not spending their time where they should be. As the U.S. (and the rest of the world!) sufferers through a financial downturn, you’d think that everyone would … Read more

No Bubble Here: IT Spending Going Up Next Year!

As the rest of the world seems to be going through some sort of complete meltdown, the IT industry is in the  process of holding its breath. 2001 was not all that long ago and we can remember what happened back then all too well: days of unlimited spending, lots of travel, and lavish celebrations … Read more

10 Ways That IT Can Solve Real-World Business Problems

My favorite word is “alignment”. This describes the situation that happens when an IT department gets it act together and focuses on solving problems for the business. This is actually different from what an IT department normally spends its time doing: keeping the network up and providing help desk support for end users. The folks … Read more

A Geek’s Guide To The Financial Melt-Down

Man – what a mess! I’m almost afraid to unwrap the paper each morning because the font size of the headlines seems to be getting bigger and bigger as the financial news gets worse and worse. Stock trading firms are going belly up, others are getting bought. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (who are they?) … Read more

Stall Alert! How An IT Department Can Help

We’ve talked about how companies can get blindsided by entering an economic stall that they never saw coming. Now let’s wrap this discussion up with a quick overview of some steps that an IT department can take in order to help prevent the company from coming to grief. We’ll be talking about four different strategies … Read more