Dell's Diversification Strategy

This is an interesting article in which Michael Dell admits that his company should have 'hit the reset button' earlier and diversified into IT services and solutions.  Unlike the Xerox purchase of ACS article which states that the purchase may simply get lost within Xerox, its good to learn that the purchase of Perot Systems will indeed be the centerpiece of Dell's new strategy.  It's going to be an interesting period here at Perot Systems.  

The State of IT in Finance

Having worked in the Finance Industry for several years, its difficult to believe that the finance industry has fallen so far.  It seemed like their seemingly unlimited resources and complex operations was a prime environment for advanced, IT professional.  Living in the DFW area with its large financial centers, I hope this is not a long-term trend.

http://career-resources.dice.com/articles/content/entry/financial_it_departments_struggle_to

Wired: Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine

This is a great article for anyone that grew up during the Cold War years.  Its fascinating to learn all these years after how each side struggled to find a perceived advantage on a game that could not be won.

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/17-10/mf_deadhand

The Crowdsource Myth?

Ever since I read The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki I have been fascinated by the  concept of crowd sourcing.  I don't necessarily believe that crowd sourcing is a myth, but I agree with the author that it has application in limited arenas.  As someone who is involved in IT projects, I see how difficult it can be to coordinate a software development effort to solve a specific business problem. I can imagine how difficult it would be to solve this same problem if it was completely up to loosely connected individuals. So maybe the application of crowd sourcing is limited to very specific problems that can be tackled successfully by an individual and does not require numerous, coordinated parts moving in a coordinated sequence.  

Even though crowd sourcing may have applications, I have found social media more relevant to application in the business environment.  However, its effectiveness is determined by a change in company culture, processes, and proper incentives.  All these factors can at least be directed and influenced by the corporation. Crowd sourcing, however, is completely out of the corporation's influence.  

http://www.forbes.com/2009/09/28/crowdsourcing-enterprise-innovation-technology-cio-network-jargonspy.html?feed=rss_news

IT Project Management Success

I think this article describes perfectly why it is so difficult to manage IT projects without first stepping back and viewing the entire picture.  From my past experience I have seen so many project managers get deeply involved in their software applications to track their timelines, budgets, and reporting requirements.  The problem is that these tools sometimes take away time from focusing on the true success factors of the project. As the article says, investing in relations with the business side takes time, but it is key factor for project success. The days of disengaging the business side for months at a time while the deliverable is worked on are over.  Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Agile PM methodology is gaining popularity as an alternative to the more traditional waterfall approach.  


CIO: Project Management How IT and Business Relationships Shape Success