Mark McDonald

A member of the Gartner Blog Network

Entries Categorized as 'Strategy'


A tool for assessing technology’s amplification of your strategy

by Mark P. McDonald  |  February 8, 2012  |  3 Comments

Amplifying the enterprise is the theme for this year’s CIO agenda reflecting the expanding role of technology in the enterprise and its role in raising the power of enterprise strategies and performance.  The notion of technology as an enterprise amplifier goes beyond traditional notions of IT and the administration/automation of back office processes.  Technologies such [...]

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Category: 2012 Amplifying the Enterprise Strategic planning Strategy Tools     Tags: , , , , ,

Is the quality of executive sponsorship falling?

by Mark P. McDonald  |  February 6, 2012  |  Submit a Comment

Every business book you read says that you need to have ‘executive sponsorship’ for any major initiative.  Fail to involve the executives and you are likely to fail.  That advice has become so prevalent that it is almost worthless.  Getting executive sponsorship is not what matters; it’s the quality of the sponsorship that makes all [...]

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Category: 2012 Change on the cheap IT Governance Leadership Management Personal Observation Signs of weak management Strategy     Tags: , , , , ,

Amplifying the enterprise: the 2012 CIO Agenda

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 18, 2012  |  2 Comments

Last year, CIOs responding to the Gartner Executive Programs CIO Agenda indicated that it was time to re-imagine IT.   Re-imagining IT meant recognizing that business priorities and technologies had changed enough for IT to rethink its role in the enterprise and its value proposition.  For some this meant adopting cloud technologies to reallocate resources from [...]

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Category: 2012 Leadership Strategy     Tags: , , , , , ,

The sources of distortion

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 12, 2012  |  Submit a Comment

Amplifying the enterprise involves turning up the value of technology in the enterprise.  Eliminating distortion is one of the ways that technology amplifies the enterprise. Distortion refers to the internal complexities; costs, duplication and redundancies that make it harder to get work done. Think about the things that get in the way, make it difficult [...]

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Category: 2012 Strategy Technology Tools     Tags: , , , , , ,

Maximize IT returns by amplifying performance rather than administering a budget.

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 9, 2012  |  1 Comment

In times of economic adversity, conventional wisdom calls for conserving cash and capital.  Firms have amassed record amounts of cash as governments face deep cuts in the fourth year of five-year plans.  Leaders know that the future requires re-imaging the enterprise rather than repeated waves of belt tightening. Nowhere is this more evident than in [...]

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Category: 2012 Economy Strategic planning Strategy budgets     Tags: , , , , , , ,

Customer Experience bridges the gap between revenue growth and cost cutting

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 6, 2012  |  Submit a Comment

One of the issues facing CIOs in 2012 is the apparent conflict between growing revenue and cutting cost.  While IT may be asked to do both, in reality plans and priorities fall heavily on the cost cutting side limiting IT’s impact and value. Customer Experience brings a different perspective to issues of revenue and cost. [...]

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Category: 2012 CIO Management Strategic planning Strategy Technology     Tags: , , , , , , ,

Does social media equal social unrest?

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 4, 2012  |  1 Comment

Business Week, Wired and the Economist published articles in December about social media and its role in social unrest.  The articles described how social media has enabled everything from peaceful protests to looting via ‘flash robs’ that actively monitor and coordinate their actions around police movements. Executives reading these articles could understandably equate social media [...]

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Category: Innovation Social Media Social Organization Strategy Technology     Tags: , ,

2012 begins a pivotal three years for IT

by Mark P. McDonald  |  January 3, 2012  |  3 Comments

Every year is important and pundits, myself included, contribute to the annual strategy and planning cycle that is based on the premise that the coming year must be the most important year.  That position makes sense when you consider that without a compelling plan for ‘next year’ the CIOs and IT organization will not get [...]

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Category: 2012 Leadership Management Strategy     Tags: , , , , , ,

What is on your CIO’s holiday wish list?

by Mark P. McDonald  |  December 19, 2011  |  Submit a Comment

It’s that time of year; when it is better to give than receive.  But what do you get a CIO this year?  What is on your CIO’s wish list? With six shopping days left until Christmas here are six things I can think of talking with CIOs over the past few months. These are things [...]

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Category: Fun Personal Observation Strategy     Tags: , , , ,

Mobile applications require re-imagining the ‘application’

by Mark P. McDonald  |  December 2, 2011  |  1 Comment

Strong interest in mobile technologies and the plethora of ‘apps’ available on smart phones is driving intense interest and demand for mobile applications.  Some of this demand is being driven by ‘fashion’ as having an iPad/Pod or Android application is the in thing to have. Separating the ‘glam’ from the genuine need for mobile applications [...]

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Category: Strategy Technology     Tags: , , , , ,