Opinion

Opinion

• Don't use a BPM system as a cover for bad workflows

  The case for business process management tools is compelling, says SearchCIO columnist Niel Nickolaisen -- except when a BPM system is a dodge for the hard work of simplifying workflows.  Continue Reading

• Legacy IT systems can be the kindest cut of all

  Should your legacy IT systems stay or go? CIOs tasked with this decision might find eliminating past-their-prime systems to be the kindest cut of all.  Continue Reading

• Next-generation security for a mobile culture: 10 risks, seven pointers

  The number of mobile devices now outnumbers the number of people in the world. Mass mobilization calls for next-generation security tools and some forward thinking on the part of CIOs.  Continue Reading

• Mobile pulls CIOs into vetting next-generation security

  Among its many other wonderfully disruptive consequences, mobile computing forces CIOs to figure out a next-generation information security strategy.  Continue Reading

• Desperately seeking security

  Your enterprise is probably no further than six degrees of separation from a damaging data breach. In CIO Decisions ezine, find out how those seeking security can turn hindsight into actionable intelligence.  Continue Reading

• Application consolidation: Business value beyond expense reduction

  Application consolidation is never an end unto itself. It's the business benefits that matter. SearchCIO columnist Harvey Koeppel explains.  Continue Reading

• Snowden: Data encryption is good, but not good enough

  Edward Snowden and Bruce Schneier talk data encryption and privacy in a networked world. The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Seven secrets to big data project success

  Are there traits that spell big data success? Are there big data pitfalls that can spell disaster? The answer is an emphatic “yes,” according to three experts.  Continue Reading

• How to use crowdfunding for business: Examples and benefits

  Now that the likes of Kickstarter and Indiegogo have the attention of big business, raising money isn't the only reason to use crowdfunding for your small business idea, says SearchCIO columnist, Bryan Barringer.  Continue Reading

• Systems diagrams help leaders manage change

  CIOs need to 'learn how to surf' the waves of change. Systems diagramming can help. The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Booz Allen Hamilton's innovation blueprint

  A peek at Booz Allen's innovation practice, what Etsy looks for in a data analyst and mathematical proof that vampires don't exist: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Does the Hortonworks IPO mean big data has arrived?

  Hortonworks files for an initial public offering, but big data enthusiasts shouldn't break out the bubbly just yet, according to analysts. The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Big text and the 2014 World Cup

  There's big data and then there's big text. Find out why they're different. Plus, the key to a data team's success: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence in the enterprise: It's judgment day

  Artificial intelligence in the enterprise isn't some far-off science-fiction film fantasy: It's already here, and it's time for CIOs to judge its business applications.  Continue Reading

• The future of incident response is in real-time OODA feedback loops

  Today's sophisticated attacks can only be foiled when humans are in the loop. In part two of Future State, security expert Bruce Schneier gives advice on how to augment IR teams and processes for the future.  Continue Reading

• Hadoop fades, the science of cartoons and the value of teamwork

  Hadoop's disappearing act, data science in New Yorker cartoons, and the elusive purple unicorn in big data: The Data Mill reports from Strata + Hadoop World.  Continue Reading

• Eight steps for comprehensive BYOD governance

  BYOD governance is not a destination, but a journey. It begins with this eight step roadmap for safe and effective BYOD policies.  Continue Reading

• From smoke signals to SMAC, digital business arrives

  Sharing your content is no longer about writing letters, sending emails or placing advertising. SearchCIO expert Harvey Koeppel analyzes how social media technologies have transformed business communications along with mobile, analytics and cloud.  Continue Reading

• IT leaders explain how to assign a value to your data assets

  In the latest CIO Decisions, CIOs and IT experts share their thoughts on infonomics -- placing a value on data assets -- and other of-the-moment IT concerns.  Continue Reading

• Tunneling to perfection: Apache Hadoop's MapReduce evolves

  First comes MapReduce and then comes what? Big data luminaries gather to discuss, and The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• SaaS governance breeds better business relationships for CIOs

  SaaS governance practiced in a holistic context is a means to be a better business partner and to move closer to the seemingly unachievable goal of aligning IT with the business. Harvey Koeppel explains why.  Continue Reading

• Hype is rising over sensor data but success will hinge on fundamentals

  The buzz is on for sensor data but extracting value, as always, will hinge on mastering the data fundamentals: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• The big data market rises and must converge -- just not yet

  The diverging big data market, Google's new 'search,' Spark versus MapReduce: The Data Mill reports from the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium.  Continue Reading

• It's time to mothball traditional ITSM approaches

  Traditional IT services management tactics belong in museums, not in forward-looking IT departments. IT strategist Harvey Koeppel explains why.  Continue Reading

• The digital footprint: Business boon vs. privacy bane

  Like many IT execs, O.C. Tanner CTO Niel Nickolaisen is seeking a balance between digital footprint data mining and the privacy risks it entails.  Continue Reading

• Ten open data examples to get CIOs thinking

  Say hello to open data; the agricultural industry gets "smarter"; and UNICEF innovates: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• A crisis management plan steeped in IT for this year's Boston Marathon

  IT upgrades and social data mining better equip Boston Marathon organizers for their 118th year; plus, soft robotics and Microsoft's forced update.  Continue Reading

• 14 questions that drive cloud computing strategies in the right direction

  Stop debating what the cloud is and start asking these 14 questions that develop cloud strategies for the business worth talking about.  Continue Reading

• On a day of praise for disruptive technologies, a word of caution

  A former Google engineer schools aspiring disruptors on what really matters when deploying disruptive technology for human consumption.  Continue Reading

• In business-model innovation, cloud computing is imperative

  Business-model innovation is a necessity in light of the changes that cloud computing brings to the enterprise, columnist Harvey Koeppel explains.  Continue Reading

• Analytics 3.0 -- the old guard masters how to build data products

  Analytics 3.0, the 'data as a corporate asset' quiz and 'hellabytes': The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• The rise of the smart machines: Here comes the robo-workforce

  In Searchlight, smart machines are all over the news and eyeballing human jobs. Plus: Apple gets social, a lot of passwords get stolen, and more.  Continue Reading

• Smart process applications: Straight talk from CIOs

  Smart process applications were the focus of November's 'CIO Decisions' e-zine. What do CIOs say about this new breed of apps and other technologies?  Continue Reading

• Want better analytics? Start asking 'crunchy' questions

  Predictive analytics and crunchy questions, data visualizations and good design: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Clay Christensen warns CIOs that smart managers are doomed to fail

  Disruptive innovation theorist Clay Christensen warns CIOs to be skeptical of time-honored business tenets.  Continue Reading

• Relational databases are far from dead -- just ask Facebook

  Facebook and relational databases, social television, and open data: The Data Mill reports from Strata Conference + Hadoop World.  Continue Reading

• Ten big data case studies in a nutshell

  What are companies such as Macy's, Tesco, American Express and Wal-Mart Stores doing with big data? The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Creative destruction and the cloud: Why it's a good thing

  The creative destruction brought on by the cloud is an imperative and unavoidable part of your IT and business strategy.  Continue Reading

• Cloud: A disruptive technology that's worth the disruption

  Cloud computing is a disruptive technology that promises to upend the enterprise, but the upsides are worth the risk.  Continue Reading

• Big data and predictive analytics: When is enough data enough?

  When to call it quits with data, the power of a name and performing surgical marketing: The Data Mill reports from Predictive Analytics World.  Continue Reading

• Kurzweil: The human brain on IT

  Inventor and futurologist Ray Kurzweil shakes up an information management crowd with visions of the human brain on IT.  Continue Reading

• 'Cookie stuffing': A data scientist takes on seamy side of online ads

  Combatting cookie stuffing, smoking out dubious URLs, designing for behavior change and selling the company culture: The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Lean Six Sigma and Agile get up close and productive at Bose

  Leadership, maturity models and core value streams: How Bose IT has blended Lean Six Sigma and Agile in its SAP environment.  Continue Reading

• Semi-structured data is king of LinkedIn's recommendation engine

  LinkedIn's semi-structured data shines, CVS responds to social media finger wagging, and Microsoft does the shuffle, The Data Mill reports.  Continue Reading

• Prescriptive analytics is coming to a future near you

  It is only a matter of time before algorithms rule the world. Humans, meet prescriptive analytics.  Continue Reading

• Big data can mean bad analytics, says Harvard professor

  The value of big data is in the analytics -- not any old analytics but software customized to your business purpose. Anything less is bad analytics.  Continue Reading

• The CIO position: Why you need to eat your own dog food

  When it comes to the CIO position, the want ads have yet to catch up with the skill set du jour.  Continue Reading

• The GRC maturity model and value proposition

  In this CIO Matters column, Harvey Koeppel takes a look at the GRC maturity model and how CIOs can turn risk management into business value.  Continue Reading

• C-suite looking for team members, not captains of industry

  Is the decider-in-chief an industry relic? One CIO headhunter says so. The new C-suite ideal is the collaborative team player.  Continue Reading

• Putting a price on information: The nascent field of infonomics

  Companies are behaving as if information has a monetary value. The question is how much? The nascent field of infonomics aims to provide answers.  Continue Reading

• Offshore IT outsourcing: Economy, not ethics, is big question for CIOs

  Offshore IT outsourcing is an emotional topic for CIOs, but the cost can be more complicated than a simple bottom line.  Continue Reading

• Project management best practices show off IT talent in Miami Beach

  An accountability mandate helps an IT director introduce IT project management best practices that make his staff’s value apparent—and transparent.  Continue Reading

• CIO Matters: Leveraging big data for big business value

  Leveraging data for business value represents a fundamental shift in the way we conduct business, interact with customers and exchange information.  Continue Reading