by Mark P. McDonald | January 30, 2013 | 2 Comments
For years CIOs and researchers have highlighted the imperative for IT become a larger part of the business. The advice offered is for CIOs to be more strategic, business focuses, business relevant and the like have consumed tons of paper, millions of pixels and pounds of toner. Over the last 10 years the issue of [...]
Category: 2013 Digital Edge Digitalization Re-imagine IT Strategy Tags: IT and Business, IT Leadership, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | January 28, 2013 | 7 Comments
Automation, communication and brut force describe IT’s relationship with Marketing. Pre-digital information technologies such as CRM, eCommerce Sites, eMail marketing provided new technology tools to perform old marketing tasks. Sure, marketers sought out a 1:1 relationship by substituting traditional coupons for eCoupons, website URL’s for QPC codes and working recommendations into shopping carts and checkout [...]
Category: Customer Experience Digital Edge Digitalization Innovation marketing Technology Tags: customer experience, Digital Edge, digital marketing, Innovation
by Mark P. McDonald | January 25, 2013 | 5 Comments
It is time for the annual IT kickoff and presentation of the 2013 IT strategy. The kickoff meeting offers a unique opportunity to assess IT, its role in the enterprise, its goals for the coming year, etc. These sessions provide insight into how isolated IT is from the rest of the enterprise. Here are ten [...]
Category: 2013 Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, IT strategy, Strategy and Planning, Technology
by Mark P. McDonald | January 23, 2013 | 8 Comments
As more and more attention turns to digital technology (mobile, big data, social, cloud) the greater the temptation to invest in a ‘digital’ strategy. The idea sounds clear, simple and intuitive. Digital technology is complex both in terms of the technology itself and the relationships between the business and technology. That complexity and the relative [...]
Category: Digital Edge Digitalization Strategic planning Strategy Technology Tags: Digital Edge, Digitalization, Strategy, Strategy and Planning, Technology, Technology Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | January 21, 2013 | Submit a Comment
In the United States we have a public holiday to honor the life, lessons and leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, perhaps the most significant leader in the U.S. Civil Rights movement. I was a child when Dr. King and others were leading the movement toward greater equality and we are the beneficiary of his [...]
Category: Personal Observation Tags: personal musing, Personal Observation
by Mark P. McDonald | January 16, 2013 | 10 Comments
This morning I had the honor of appearing on CNBC to announce the results of the 2013 Gartner Executive Programs CIO survey and CIO agenda report. Follow this link to the video and this link to the press announcement. The title of this year’s report revolves around extending technology’s role in the enterprise to include [...]
Category: 2013 Digital Edge Digitalization Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, IT Leadership, Strategy and Planning, Value of IT
by Mark P. McDonald | January 11, 2013 | 1 Comment
Computing power has been the measure and the model for how we think about technology. The model was that greater the MIPS, Feeds, Speeds, Capacity etc. the more powerful the technology. With CES going on right now, its interesting to see that the buzz is not about technology as computing power so much as it [...]
Category: Digital Edge Digitalization Innovation Re-imagine IT Strategy Technology Tags: 2013 Planning, Digitalization, digitization, IT strategy, Technology
by Mark P. McDonald | January 9, 2013 | 2 Comments
Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb discusses important issues around resilience and how complex systems survive and thrive in a changing environment. According to the author the fact that randomness, uncertainty, and volatility damage modern systems indicates that are fundamentally fragile. Anti-fragile systems are ones that not only respond to these forces but also grow stronger through the [...]
Category: Book Review Management Technology Tags: agility, architecture, Book Review
by Mark P. McDonald | January 7, 2013 | 1 Comment
Today is the first full working day of the first full working week of 2013. It’s a time when ‘everything old is new again’. New in the context that it’s a new year, new budget, new beginning. I believe that an organization’s ability to renew itself, give it a fresh start and move forward is [...]
Category: 2013 Leadership Management Tough Questions Tags: 2013 Planning, CIO Leadership, IT Leadership, IT management, IT strategy, Leadership, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | January 2, 2013 | 1 Comment
New Year’s resolutions come and mostly go by the wayside in large part because they are weak commitments to things we already know that we are not going to do. Sure you can pass up desert on January 3rd but what about on February 2nd is the same commitment there? Rather than make promises that [...]
Category: 2013 Leadership Tough Questions Tags: 2013 Planning, Business Leadership, Business Management, IT Leadership, IT strategy
