Tips

Tips

• Clear goals, patience required for successful IT automation strategy

  More companies are investing in automation to streamline processes. But for an IT automation strategy to be successful, it's important to start with clear, well defined goals.  Continue Reading

• How to use artificial intelligence for business benefit

  AI expert Josh Sutton lays out the three main ways that companies can use artificial intelligence systems for business advantage.  Continue Reading

• Selling the value of cloud computing to the C-suite

  Selling the value of cloud computing to business leaders requires more than the usual bromides about cost savings and speed-to-market.  Continue Reading

• Principles to guide your DevOps adoption

  Adopting DevOps doesn't simply mean taking up a few practices. It also requires embracing the attitude, culture and philosophy. Learn seven pointers for your journey.  Continue Reading

• Three cloud roles CIOs can't ignore

  Gartner: To fully realize cloud benefits, CIOs need to fill three cloud roles -- one for forming strategy, one for implementing strategy and one for budgeting.  Continue Reading

• Social movements offer CIOs a model for sustaining innovation

  How to sustain innovation is a challenge for startups and large companies alike. Studying the ties that bind social and political movements could help.  Continue Reading

• Transitioning to a DevOps environment? Don't make these four mistakes

  Weak project management skills, missed timelines, thin-skinned staff -- any one of these could torpedo your fledgling DevOps environment.  Continue Reading

• Digital labor: What forward-looking CIOs should know

  In this Q&A, ISG Insights analyst Stanton Jones describes the various types of digital labor and offers pointers for CIOs on how to start deploying it.  Continue Reading

• 2017 CIO priorities: If you do anything next year, do this

  Analytics, security, data privacy and IT specialization loom large for 2017. Here is my CIO guide for surviving another whirlwind year.  Continue Reading

• CIO outlook 2017: Five elements of the new IT operating model

  CIO outlook 2017: Jettison the plan-build-run model, form fusion teams, hire agile learners, double down on IT risk and spearhead a plan to maximize the value of data. Here's how.  Continue Reading

• Crushed by the pace of technology change? Do these two things

  Is complexity killing your ability to keep up with the pace of technology change? Niel Nickolaisen offers a path forward.  Continue Reading

• Achieve digital success: Takeaways from CEB's Summit for IT Leaders

  Faster IT operating models, companywide change, new hires: The CEB Summit for IT Leaders maps out the steps to digital success.  Continue Reading

• Radical changes in IT are masked by sluggish information technology budgets

  Far from stagnant, corporate IT budgets are actually highly dynamic. Growth is tied to digitization efforts which, in turn, are driving big changes in IT.  Continue Reading

• Become a change agent: Stop procrastinating

  Don't be like the white-haired bride and groom who put off the big event until they could afford it. Now is the time for action, says organizational agility expert Joseph Flahiff.  Continue Reading

• Changes in CISO responsibilities call for new reporting structure

  CISO responsibilities are both expanding and shifting to other departments. CEB's Jeremy Bergsman sorts out the future state of IS, privacy and the risk ecosystem.  Continue Reading

• The new vendor governance model: Challenges, best practices

  How do leading IT vendor governance offices successfully adapt to a rapidly changing business environment?  Continue Reading

• IT vendor governance expands to business functions

  In the first of this two-part tip on IT vendor governance, Pace Harmon Director Dan McMahon lays out how vendor governance responsibilities are changing at leading companies.  Continue Reading

• Mobile security issues and solutions

  Mobile technology usage is growing just as the number of threats facing mobile data is growing. CIOs must combat mobile security issues to stay ahead in the mobile-dominated world.  Continue Reading

• Agile organizations still need project status reports

  A worrisome trend is emerging as more organizations adopt agile practices -- disavowal of project status reports.  Continue Reading

• Mulling cloud email services? Ask two questions first

  Before moving productivity software to the cloud, think about what you might lose -- and what you might gain, says Gartner's Guy Creese.  Continue Reading

• Mobile app development skills: How to meet enterprise demand

  How should CIOs gain access to mobile app development skills? That will depend on the scope, complexity, duration and urgency of the work.  Continue Reading

• Advice for IT leaders: How to tell the cloud story

  The case for cloud computing is less about the technical fine points and more about telling a compelling story to your IT team and business peers. Here are four essential elements.  Continue Reading

• Be smart, prepared on cloud service agreements

  Cloud service agreements can be difficult to understand; therefore negotiations with cloud providers can be thorny. A customer advocacy group has several tips.  Continue Reading

• Concerned about mobile vulnerabilities, CIOs add security layers

  IT leaders are adding more security layers in an effort to protect against mobility threats. What tools are in their portfolios?  Continue Reading

• Scaling a business doesn't mean just getting bigger

  Don't blow a fuse when scaling your business. Culture, leadership and organizational structure need to change as your startup grows.  Continue Reading

• The best mobile security plans examine risks first, then prescribe

  How do CIOs deliver the best mobile security? Take a cue from the great psychologist Abraham Maslow, says CTO Niel Nickolaisen.  Continue Reading

• The pivotal role of CIOs in digital readiness: Three principles

  Putting one person in charge of digital readiness won't work, says CEB's Andrew Horne, but that doesn't mean CIOs don't play a pivotal role in digital transformation.  Continue Reading

• Delegator vs. micromanager: What kind of boss are you?

  Being a delegator is one of the hardest jobs for a leader. Joseph Flahiff explains.  Continue Reading

• Board presentations on IT risk: Don't make these five mistakes

  CIO and CISO board presentations on cybersecurity are on the rise. Jeremy Bergsman of consultancy CEB explains what not to do.  Continue Reading

• Three questions for IBM blockchain expert Arvind Krishna

  How many nodes is enough for consensus? Who owns blockchain data? IBM blockchain expert Arvind Krishna addresses these and other burning blockchain issues in this SearchCIO tip.  Continue Reading

• Remote and collocated teams: How to make them better

  Joseph Flahiff pinpoints problems associated with two more types of remote teams and explains why collocated teams may not be all they're cracked up to be.  Continue Reading

• How to optimize the performance of remote teams: Three variations

  Remote teams may not be the ideal, but they are a fact of the modern workplace. Here are three types of remote teams and tips on how to help them work better.  Continue Reading

• Eight best practices for optimizing a distributed team

  Having all your team members under one roof is the exception today rather than the rule. How can you ensure your distributed teams are successful?  Continue Reading

• Six shifts that define enterprise digitization in 2020

  Before business leaders get dragged into conversations about how their company can be the "Uber of their industry," they need to agree on the IT and business trends driving enterprise digitization.  Continue Reading

• Mobile backend as a service: Features and deployment options

  Mobile apps are constantly connected, which makes mobile backend as a service ideal for running business logic and data analysis. Here's what you need to know about cloud back-end services.  Continue Reading

• A CTO's vetting process for hyper-converged architectures

  Hyper-converged architectures: CTO and SearchCIO columnist Niel Nickolaisen lays out the five critical questions he asked before taking the plunge.  Continue Reading

• Without IT process documentation, companies risk being held 'hostage' by IT

  As cybersecurity breaches surge, it's important that company leadership know what IT is up to. Kevin McDonald explains why IT process documentation is a must-have best practice.  Continue Reading

• Evaluating hyper-converged architectures: Five key CIO considerations

  Simplicity and cost savings are among the benefits of hyper-converged architectures, but the biggest draw for CIOs may be how these systems make IT teams more business-ready.  Continue Reading

• Tenets of value-sensitive design: Batya Friedman

  A lot of technology gets made without ever taking human values into account. That's what got Batya Friedman thinking about value-sensitive design.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise 3D Printing Guide: Great opportunity, tough challenges

  SearchCIO's Enterprise 3D Printing Guide infographic alerts CIOs to 3D printing's chief technical challenges and explains why this emerging technology also offers CIOs an extraordinary career opportunity.  Continue Reading

• Three keys to a good business reorganization

  The typical reorg evokes fear, stress and suspicion -- and kills productivity. Here's how to change that.  Continue Reading

• Can an old-school vertical business operate as a platform?

  SearchCIO columnist and CTO Niel Nickolaisen talks about his journey to take a vertical business horizontal in a quest to transform employee and customer connections.  Continue Reading

• 8 free IT budget plan templates for CIOs

  Creating a reliable IT budget plan is no cinch, especially in today's digital age. Here, we've rounded up free, customizable IT budget templates to help.  Continue Reading

• 3D printing strategy a litmus test for CIO leadership

  Your company may never need a 3D printing strategy, but it does need a CIO who can test, validate and scale emerging tech.  Continue Reading

• Bimodal IT strategy opens up opportunities for innovation

  Mode 2 of a bimodal IT strategy can help organizations act more like a startup and tackle some high-risk, high-reward digital business moonshots.  Continue Reading

• Bloomberg: Six gotchas that will upend your data science team

  CIOs, take a note: The head of data science at Bloomberg lays out six gotchas that could sink your big data project.  Continue Reading

• A disaster recovery/business continuity plan for the data breach age

  As we become 'digital by nature,' a good enterprise disaster recovery/business continuity plan must put data first, says Harvey Koeppel. He lays out 10 tips.  Continue Reading

• Eight-step data breach plan for the IT organization

  A data breach plan that addresses the many variations a hack can take should consider these eight points.  Continue Reading

• How to test your DR/BC plan

  Woe to the IT organization that hasn't taken its DR/BC plan out for a spin. The right kind of testing will close the gaps and save IT and the business a lot of grief.  Continue Reading

• How to handle a data breach: Managing public perception

  When your organization plans out how to handle a data breach, managing public perception should be given special consideration. One piece of advice: Don't play the victim.  Continue Reading

• Writing a statement of work? Here's what you should include

  A project's success can hinge on having clear and specific details about it. Download this free checklist to see critical elements of a statement of work.  Continue Reading

• Data monetization success begins with three key concepts

  Companies are eyeing data assets as the new cash cow, but monetizing data is hard to do, warn data monetization experts Lydia Jones and Karl Urich. Here's what you need to know.  Continue Reading

• Free statement of work template examples for CIOs

  Statements of work are critical in helping CIOs keep projects on track and meet business goals. Check out these free statement of work template examples.  Continue Reading

• Without an ITSM strategy, there is no digital transformation

  If digital transformation is on your CIO agenda, then a top-of-class ITSM strategy had better be also. CTO Niel Nickolaisen speaks from experience.  Continue Reading

• Seven CIO tips for the ITSM roadmap ahead

  Harvey Koeppel understands how hard it is to deliver ITSM support for a digital business world. Here are seven ways to ensure you can follow the new ITSM roadmap.  Continue Reading

• How organizational agility will save and destroy your company

  Aiming for organizational agility? Prepare to change how you scope work, structure teams, develop talent, practice leadership, and deliver and sell your products.  Continue Reading

• Government agency puts cloud computing references to effective use

  Free guides from cloud customer advocacy groups fit nicely into Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s structured approach to cloud.  Continue Reading

• 3D printing technology: Strategic advice for CIOs

  What is 3D printing? And how can CIOs prepare for its introduction to the workplace? Find out in this SearchCIO tip.  Continue Reading

• Shifting IT security budgets to attack detection, response

  A prevention-focused security strategy isn't foolproof. CIOs need to guide a shift in IT security spending toward attack detection and response.  Continue Reading

• Reconciling great user experience with data risks: CIO tips

  Harvey Koeppel recounts his quest to deliver great user experience without inviting undue data risks. The journey was not easy.  Continue Reading

• Mobile apps for business: Four CIO rules for building a mobile future

  Niel Nickolaisen suggests fellow IT leaders ignore the hysteria over 'mobile-first' enterprises and take a balanced approach to mobile app development.  Continue Reading

• Building an IT configuration management system: Hard but crucial

  An effective configuration management system that documents critical IT systems and services is a crucial prerequisite to successful incident response processes.  Continue Reading

• Mistakes CIOs make on IT outsourcing deals -- and how to fix them

  CIOs don't sign on to large IT outsourcing deals expecting them to go bad, so what accounts for the high failure rates? Andy Sealock offers a game plan for de-risking your deal.  Continue Reading

• How to govern your IT outsourcing provider after the ITO deal is done

  The best ITO deals need tweaking as time goes on. Good governance ensures that you and your IT outsourcing provider are on the same page.  Continue Reading

• Future-proof your IT outsourcing contract: A CIO checklist

  Despite reams of advice on how to write a good IT outsourcing contract, ITO expert Andy Sealock 'still sees terrible deals all over the place.' Here's how to do it right.  Continue Reading

• Infographic: Strategic IT plan checklist for CIOs

  A company's IT strategy can determine whether it sinks or floats in today's competitive marketplace. Download our free checklist to find out what components should be in your strategic IT plan.  Continue Reading

• Don't toss data center best practices when managing cloud services

  Cloud computing is different -- but it's not that different. Gartner analyst Mindy Cancila says you already do some of the most critical tasks.  Continue Reading

• Track the cost of cloud-based services with better financial management

  Companies that don't monitor the cost of cloud-based services could be in for a nasty surprise, warns Gartner analyst Mindy Cancila.  Continue Reading

• Cybersecurity experts: 'Brittle' security systems need overhaul

  Cybersecurity experts urge enterprises to embrace new tools, including micro-virtualization and intelligence-led security.  Continue Reading

• Enterprise data architecture strategy and the big data lake

  Today's enterprise data architecture strategy has to address how to align existing data systems with growing information needs, capabilities and data sources.  Continue Reading

• Larry Wall's programmer virtues and 'vices'

  IT pros who are lazy, impatient and hubristic are just what CIOs need. Gartner analyst Danny Brian explains why in this SearchCIO tip.  Continue Reading

• Taming today's cyberthreat landscape: A CIO checklist

  The cyberthreat landscape grows more dangerous by the day. Harvey Koeppel offers a 12-point cybersecurity checklist for CIOs.  Continue Reading

• From tech supplier to IT service provider, a CIO makes the 'big switch'

  To address gaps between business expectations and IT delivery, CIO Gary Watkins came up with a model to make his IT team the company's IT service provider of choice.  Continue Reading

• New CIOs: How to succeed in the first 120 days

  New CIOs have a short window to prove their mettle. Accenture's Diana Bersohn lays out a 120-day-plan for success.  Continue Reading

• Among threats to information security, human behavior a constant risk

  Among the myriad evolving threats to information security, CIOs can count on one constant: Human error. Niel Nickolaisen offers three best practices for dealing with ourselves.  Continue Reading

• AI technology: Is the genie (or genius) out of the bottle?

  Artificial intelligence has come a long way since SearchCIO columnist Harvey Koeppel studied with some of the discipline's pioneers. He offers 10 steps CIOs must take now to prepare for the AI technology era ahead.  Continue Reading

• Sample IT strategy plan templates and examples

  How do organizations gain a competitive edge in today's rapidly evolving tech landscape? With a solid IT strategy plan to guide them, for starters. These IT strategy plan templates and samples will help.  Continue Reading

• Mobile payments come of age: A brief history lesson

  Mobile payments mark the latest iteration in our 19,000-year history of commerce, says Harvey Koeppel. It's up to CIOs to make this evolutionary development work better.  Continue Reading

• Readers debate using the Apple Watch for business

  The Apple Watch offers nuggets of data that could drive employee productivity. We asked our readers to weigh in on the potential usefulness of the Apple Watch for business.  Continue Reading

• Three steps to creating a great senior leadership team

  You're only as good as your direct reports, says leadership coach and author Joseph Flahiff. Here's how to build a senior leadership team that makes breakthrough contributions to the business.  Continue Reading

• Startup guide: Don't be afraid to give your strategic goals a tuneup

  A few months into launching our new business, all signs were pointing to success. So why did we feel we had lost sight of our strategic goals?  Continue Reading

• The CIO's guide to the data center of the future

  When it comes to the enterprise data center of the future, past is probably not prologue, says SearchCIO columnist Harvey Koeppel. He offers five tips to prepare for the great data center unknown.  Continue Reading

• BPM principles in the age of the digitized customer experience

  Learn five BPM principles for delivering products and services to customers who want to conduct business in an individualized, intimate and instantaneous way.  Continue Reading

• Hire for personality, not just skills, to build your startup team

  Finding people with the right experience and skills to build your new business is critical, but it's the personality mix of a startup team that can make or break a small business.  Continue Reading

• Eight steps for keeping pace with data ownership

  Social, mobile, analytics and cloud computing require a fresh look at issues related to data ownership, according to Harvey Koeppel. His eight-point CIO checklist can help.  Continue Reading

• Lessons learned from FedEx's social networking platform project

  What big company doesn’t want a social networking platform that lets employees really connect, communicate and create? Take it from a pro: The benefits are many and, yes, it is hard to do.  Continue Reading

• Preparing your wireless network for the 802.11ac standard and beyond

  Get advice for assessing whether you should upgrade your wireless network to 802.11ac and for talking to network vendors about whether your core equipment can support it.  Continue Reading

• Gartner: DevOps is good; DevSecOps is better

  Make way for DevSecOps. According to Gartner analyst David Cearley, CIOs need to add security professionals to their DevOps teams.  Continue Reading

• Three tips for a better IT service model

  With IT budgets moving out of the IT department, these three best practices will help put your IT organization in a better position to compete with outside IT services companies.  Continue Reading

• Loss of focus chief reason for startup failure

  Too much passion, too little passion, too many cooks -- there are many factors that can lead to loss of focus and, ultimately, to startup failure.  Continue Reading

• Private cloud termination agreement: What CIOs need to know

  Relationships between companies and their cloud providers can be fleeting. Knowing this, it's important for CIOs to think about exit strategies before they sign that cloud contract. David Rutchik, a partner at Pace Harmon LLC, offers advice.  Continue Reading

• The complexities of a diversified cloud strategy

  Experts urge using a diversified cloud strategy to offset cloud vendor instability, but the sophisticated management skills this approach requires may make it unfeasible for some IT organizations.  Continue Reading

• Use a diversified cloud strategy to offset provider instability

  It can be tough for CIOs to get cloud providers to commit to providing long-term services. One way to ensure stability is by using a diversified cloud strategy.  Continue Reading

• Mobile app development process: Saving time, money

  Learn about one approach to mobile app development that cuts the amount of resources that go into expensive software development and testing.  Continue Reading

• Overcome the fear factor in enterprise application consolidation

  Application consolidation is not for the faint of heart. Among other hurdles are the users who threaten mutiny. Niel Nickolaisen offers advice on getting the deed done.  Continue Reading

• Cloud contract checklist: A lawyer's perspective

  It can be difficult to navigate cloud contracts. There are laws to abide by, SLAs, subcontractors and more. Where to start? One lawyer lays out the six basic issues he vets when he reviews cloud contracts with his clients.  Continue Reading

• Free RFP template examples for ERP

  Use these free RFP template examples for ERP to make the best use of your business' technology resources.  Continue Reading

• Seven data science lessons from McGraw-Hill Education analytics guru

  What programming language should every data scientist know? How should data scientists be trained? Why do you need more women on your team? McGraw-Hill Education's Alfred Essa answers those questions and more.  Continue Reading

• Four elements of creating business agility

  Organizational agility expert Joseph Flahiff lays out four practices that lead to business agility.  Continue Reading

• Prescriptive method of analytics boasts broad benefits

  Can the prescriptive method of analytics improve business outcomes in your industry? #CIOChat participants sound off on the potential and the reality.  Continue Reading