by Mark P. McDonald | April 29, 2013 | Submit a Comment
I have just come back from a week travelling around Europe and everywhere the story was the same – spring is running a month to a month and a half behind schedule. The temperatures in late April are below normal, the leaves are behind schedule and the first flowers of spring are just appearing. It’s [...]
Category: Digital Edge Digitalization Strategic planning Strategy Technology Tags: Chief Digital Officer, Digital Edge, Digitalization
by Mark P. McDonald | April 15, 2013 | Submit a Comment
Playing to Win is highly recommended as perhaps the first and one of the few books you should ever read about business strategy. Penned by the former CEO of P&G (AG Lafley) and the Dean of the Rothman Business School (Roger Martin) this book takes the esoteric and jargon based world of strategy and drives [...]
Category: Book Review Strategic planning Strategy Tags: Book Review, Strategy, Strategy and Planning
by Mark P. McDonald | March 11, 2013 | 2 Comments
Last week more than 450 CIOs and IT executives met for Gartner’s first ever Symposium in the Middle East. The three-day event concentrated on the digital imperatives of Focus, Connect and Lead. Digital technology, Gartner’s Nexus of Forces, gives each of these imperatives a new and exciting context. Based on the presentations, questions, discussions and [...]
Category: CIO Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, CIO Leadership, gartnersym, IT and Business, symposium
by Mark P. McDonald | February 22, 2013 | Submit a Comment
There are many ‘reasons’ why the C Level colleagues of the CIO should pay attention. Frankly many of those arguments about the power of technology, its strategic importance, etc. fall flat in the eyes of fellow C Level executives who have a tough time understanding the connection between technology and changes in business performance. Ask [...]
Category: 2013 Amplifying the Enterprise CFO CIO Leadership Management Strategic planning Strategy Tags: CIO Leadership, CIO strategy, IT strategy, Leadership, Strategy and Planning, Technology Leadership
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 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 | November 7, 2012 | 5 Comments
In the Bible Joseph’s interpretation of Pharoh’s dream predicted that Egypt would see seven years of fat, good harvests and plentiful food followed by 7 years of lean times, poor harvests and starvation. The prediction encouraged Pharaoh to save in good times to compensate for bad times. The exact opposite has happened to IT. IT [...]
Category: 2013 Amplifying the Enterprise Digitalization Innovation Strategic planning Strategy Technology Tags: 2013 Planning, amplify, Innovation, Strategy and Planning, symposium, Technology, Technology Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | November 2, 2012 | Submit a Comment
Earlier this week the Gartner Symposium series stopped in Sao Paulo Brasil and joined more than 1,000 CIOs and IT professionals to discuss business and technology issues. Like earlier symposia, the focus was on how technology creates value in the enterprise. This is what I learned from the discussions, questions and interactions at this year’s [...]
Category: 2013 Amplifying the Enterprise IT Governance Management Strategic planning Tags: 2013 Planning, CIO Leadership, Strategy and Planning, symposium, Technology Leadership
by Mark P. McDonald | October 31, 2012 | 3 Comments
Business and IT alignment is a perennial issues facing executives. It is one of reasons for misunderstandings, inefficiencies and frankly recriminations between technologists and business professionals. Improving Business and IT Alignment is a constant part of CIO strategic priorities as shown by the CIO survey results. Follow the link to participate in the 2013 CIO [...]
Category: IT Governance Management Strategic planning Tags: alignment, CIO Leadership, governance, IT management, Management, symposium
