CIO Talk Radio Blog

The shell of the egg is at best under appreciated. Except for uses contemplated only by the compost conscious, cracked against the side of the pan, emptied, and discarded, it is given little further thought or attention, except on the oft staggered days scheduled for trash removal when it suffers final indignities. An opportunity discarded comes at a cost. Absent the shell, the egg is amorphous, fluid, difficult to describe, measure, or examine. Yet the shell provides more than containment and protection. Left encased, shell unbroken, the egg is in context - it can be picked up, manipulated, examined, packaged, moved, and even sold. In context - we get the full picture, not only of an ovoid package of complex nutrition, but of a fragile and valuable entity, in a hostile and unpredictable environment, unprotected, except by this delicate natural container, and the cooperation of the external forces with which it interacts.

The idea of "more" as a plus is extremely compelling. More seems to be a "no-brainer." However, is it? Could more actually be less, at times? How does a CIO push his IT to provide more, and what are the consequences?

Gas is sky high, and with the public interest in promoting clean air, now is the time for a renaissance in public transportation.  IT is finding ways to improve public transportation. One obviously relevant technology would be "smart" cards or electronic ticketing that could be a personalized, convenient (reloaded using automated process that would save on the need for ticketing agents), and would offer security - it could be canceled if stolen. 

What’s on your list of 2012 project priorities?  It probably looks something like this:  Cloud computing, smartphones and mobile, social networking, business intelligence, revenue generation from IT, future trends, etc.  All good stuff to work on, but where’s the “core” stuff? The stuff that’s still important, that helps the company run which means IT needs to work on it.  What about that datacenter that everyone seems to be so quick to dismiss now that cloud computing is gaining momentum?  Or How about ERP, CRM, customer service and support, PC upgrades, lifecycle management and security amongst many others? 

17% of companies around the world now outsource their IT infrastructure, but It's forecasted that 64% of global companies will be outsourcing their IT infrastructure by the year 2020. Today, over 60% of global IT/business decision makers say they believe that managing IT in-house provides NO COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, and yet according to the same survey, 82% are still managing most infrastructure in-house! (CIOinsight.com) It makes sense to outsource infrastructure and the trickle of companies doing it will increase over time.