Comments for Eric D. Brown http://ericbrown.com Technology, Strategy, People and Projects Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:53:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Time to change the ‘sign’ of IT & Technology by ericbrownhttp://ericbrown.com/time-to-change-the-sign-of-it-technology.htm#comment-5394 ericbrown Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:53:25 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5448#comment-5394 @jbishop Thanks for the comment. You've brought up a good point as I can't recall the last time I saw an IT Strategic plan (that I didn't help create) that looked at the organization as a whole. That's part of my education initiative for CIO's and IT leaders - help them to understand that a technology plan/roadmap has to include more than projects for IT. @jbishop Thanks for the comment. You’ve brought up a good point as I can’t recall the last time I saw an IT Strategic plan (that I didn’t help create) that looked at the organization as a whole. That’s part of my education initiative for CIO’s and IT leaders – help them to understand that a technology plan/roadmap has to include more than projects for IT.

]]> Comment on Time to change the ‘sign’ of IT & Technology by jbishophttp://ericbrown.com/time-to-change-the-sign-of-it-technology.htm#comment-5393 jbishop Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:46:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5448#comment-5393 I read the same post on ECF but was not surprised at all. I a not even sure andrewmeyer32 is hitting the nail exactly. I think the core issue for IT being viewed as subtractive is that most, and I do mean most, CIO's and IT managers focus their strategies and budgets on technology and its maint and refresh instead of the business model and revenue models of their organizations. Just look at almost any IT strategy or an actual strategic plan and pretty much all you see are IT's own projects. That is the heart of every debate on CIO irrelevance, IT alignment and being a drain on business. IT leadership has to stop shooting themself in the foot if they ever expect to make progress on being seen as having a positive value proposition. I read the same post on ECF but was not surprised at all. I a not even sure andrewmeyer32 is hitting the nail exactly. I think the core issue for IT being viewed as subtractive is that most, and I do mean most, CIO’s and IT managers focus their strategies and budgets on technology and its maint and refresh instead of the business model and revenue models of their organizations.

Just look at almost any IT strategy or an actual strategic plan and pretty much all you see are IT’s own projects. That is the heart of every debate on CIO irrelevance, IT alignment and being a drain on business. IT leadership has to stop shooting themself in the foot if they ever expect to make progress on being seen as having a positive value proposition.

]]> Comment on Time to change the ‘sign’ of IT & Technology by ericbrownhttp://ericbrown.com/time-to-change-the-sign-of-it-technology.htm#comment-5391 ericbrown Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:01:53 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5448#comment-5391 @andrewmeyer32 Hi Andrew - I'm not really surprised at all...just never really thought about the usage of the words "subtractive" and "additive"...they are great words to use when thinking about the topic though. I've been in similar situations as the one you describe above. I was a part of one web content management system implementation where the entire purpose as stated by the CIO was to "remove people from the web and editorial staff". That's the wrong mindset...a CMS can bring a ton of value to an organization...much more value than cost cuts. Thanks for the comment and for stopping by. @andrewmeyer32 Hi Andrew –

I’m not really surprised at all…just never really thought about the usage of the words “subtractive” and “additive”…they are great words to use when thinking about the topic though.

I’ve been in similar situations as the one you describe above. I was a part of one web content management system implementation where the entire purpose as stated by the CIO was to “remove people from the web and editorial staff”. That’s the wrong mindset…a CMS can bring a ton of value to an organization…much more value than cost cuts.

Thanks for the comment and for stopping by.

]]> Comment on Time to change the ‘sign’ of IT & Technology by andrewmeyer32http://ericbrown.com/time-to-change-the-sign-of-it-technology.htm#comment-5390 andrewmeyer32 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:15:02 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5448#comment-5390 Eric, I'm not sure why it should come as a surprise. IT should be much less expensive than it is. With cloud technology and outsourcing, it should take fewer people and implementation times should be much quicker. That's what cloud computing, shared resources and outsourcing is all about. I can provide an example from my own experience. In 2001 I worked on a project to implement a new SAP system. There were 30+ people working on the project team, software and project management consulting and it took about two years to implement. What we were doing was really not that complex, but I bet it cost between $30-$45mm. A year ago, completed an implementation of a cloud based ERP system that is actually doing more sophisticated things. I worked as one consultant, two days a week and the whole thing cost about $95K the first year and about $70K per year after that. So 29 and a half people were eliminated, the implementation time was cut in half and more functionality was delivered. That is what IT value is all about. Part of the problem is that for large organization, they already have a huge number of people on staff and they can't or don't fire them in one shot. Instead, they bleed people off every year. Every year budgets get cut 10 to 15%. Rather than amputating a bloated arm, they're taking it off by a thousand paper cuts. IT would be see as a huge value adding organization, if it cost 10% of what it currently costs. The problem is, there's $10 of cost for every dollar of value delivered. That is just too expensive. Andy P.S. I don't think the paper cut approach will work, its just an easier way to kick the can down the road than doing what needs to be done today for value to be achieved. Eric,

I’m not sure why it should come as a surprise. IT should be much less expensive than it is. With cloud technology and outsourcing, it should take fewer people and implementation times should be much quicker. That’s what cloud computing, shared resources and outsourcing is all about. I can provide an example from my own experience.

In 2001 I worked on a project to implement a new SAP system. There were 30+ people working on the project team, software and project management consulting and it took about two years to implement. What we were doing was really not that complex, but I bet it cost between $30-$45mm.

A year ago, completed an implementation of a cloud based ERP system that is actually doing more sophisticated things. I worked as one consultant, two days a week and the whole thing cost about $95K the first year and about $70K per year after that.

So 29 and a half people were eliminated, the implementation time was cut in half and more functionality was delivered. That is what IT value is all about.

Part of the problem is that for large organization, they already have a huge number of people on staff and they can’t or don’t fire them in one shot. Instead, they bleed people off every year. Every year budgets get cut 10 to 15%. Rather than amputating a bloated arm, they’re taking it off by a thousand paper cuts.

IT would be see as a huge value adding organization, if it cost 10% of what it currently costs. The problem is, there’s $10 of cost for every dollar of value delivered. That is just too expensive.

Andy

P.S. I don’t think the paper cut approach will work, its just an easier way to kick the can down the road than doing what needs to be done today for value to be achieved.

]]> Comment on Are you managing the constraints or leading your people? by Eric D. Brown - Time to change the 'sign' of IT & Technologyhttp://ericbrown.com/are-you-managing-the-constraints-or-leading-your-people.htm#comment-5389 Eric D. Brown - Time to change the 'sign' of IT & Technology Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:22:38 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=3369#comment-5389 [...] and IT leaders are extremely focused on ‘cutting costs’ using technology and ‘doing more with less‘.The focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has led IT groups and CIO’s to become [...] [...] and IT leaders are extremely focused on ‘cutting costs’ using technology and ‘doing more with less‘.The focus on cost-cutting and efficiency has led IT groups and CIO’s to become [...]

]]> Comment on Sitecore Implementation Notes by Eric D. Brown - Are you managing the constraints or leading your people?http://ericbrown.com/sitecore-implementation-notes.htm#comment-5388 Eric D. Brown - Are you managing the constraints or leading your people? Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:10:26 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2869#comment-5388 [...] content management system (his exact words to me one day were: once you are done with this CMS implementation, which four people can I fire).  I’ve never figured out where he got that number but it [...] [...] content management system (his exact words to me one day were: once you are done with this CMS implementation, which four people can I fire).  I’ve never figured out where he got that number but it [...]

]]> Comment on An Educated Client Is a Better Client by Elmer Boutin » An Educated Client Is a Better Clienthttp://ericbrown.com/an-educated-client-is-a-better-client.htm#comment-5387 Elmer Boutin » An Educated Client Is a Better Client Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:52:16 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5445#comment-5387 [...] did an article for Eric D. Brown’s web site entitled “An Educated Client Is a Better Client.” Check it out over on Eric’s site. Posted on February 7, 2012 by Elmer. This entry [...] [...] did an article for Eric D. Brown’s web site entitled “An Educated Client Is a Better Client.” Check it out over on Eric’s site. Posted on February 7, 2012 by Elmer. This entry [...]

]]> Comment on An Educated Client Is a Better Client by An Educated Client Is a Better Client — The Crossing of Marketing and IThttp://ericbrown.com/an-educated-client-is-a-better-client.htm#comment-5386 An Educated Client Is a Better Client — The Crossing of Marketing and IT Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:24:50 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5445#comment-5386 [...] did an article for Eric D. Brown’s web site today entitled “An Educated Client Is a Better Client.” Check it out over on Eric’s site. Cancel [...] [...] did an article for Eric D. Brown’s web site today entitled “An Educated Client Is a Better Client.” Check it out over on Eric’s site. Cancel [...]

]]> Comment on Do things when you should…not when you have to by An Educated Client Is a Better Client - Eric D. Brownhttp://ericbrown.com/do-things-when-you-should-not-when-you-have-to.htm#comment-5385 An Educated Client Is a Better Client - Eric D. Brown Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:44 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=5406#comment-5385 [...] guest post by Elmer Boutin. I read with great interest Eric’s post of January 31, 2012 entitled Do things when you should … not when you have to. I agree with what he wrote, and it really got me going about something I’ve been mulling over in [...] [...] guest post by Elmer Boutin. I read with great interest Eric’s post of January 31, 2012 entitled Do things when you should … not when you have to. I agree with what he wrote, and it really got me going about something I’ve been mulling over in [...]

]]> Comment on When the story is right, people listen by ericbrownhttp://ericbrown.com/when-the-story-is-right-people-listen.htm#comment-5383 ericbrown Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:28:18 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=4865#comment-5383 @benclonts Thanks for stopping by Ben and thanks for the comment. I agree with you....the story is key. I've always tried to tell stories of some form or another here (and in life). The key for me is getting those stories to be focused, simple and short....which is hard to do sometimes :) Thanks again for stopping by! @benclonts

Thanks for stopping by Ben and thanks for the comment. I agree with you….the story is key. I’ve always tried to tell stories of some form or another here (and in life). The key for me is getting those stories to be focused, simple and short….which is hard to do sometimes :)

Thanks again for stopping by!

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